Backstage at The Price Is Right: Memoirs of A Barker Beauty (15 page)

Chapter 25

Gena Goes Baywatch,

&
Holly Gets the Ax

I
had taken Gena under my wing when she first started on the show. I could relate to her ambition and dreams to forge ahead in this crazy industry we call show business. She knew
TPIR
was just a stepping-stone and would serve her purpose for only a short period of time. Gena was too talented and special to let this family-oriented daytime TV show hold her back. Her role on
TPIR
would never allow her to pursue her life’s dream of stardom if she stayed too long.

Prior to the summer break, Gena started asking the producers for time off to go on auditions and be able to work on other TV shows and/or film projects.
TPIR
producers were not at all happy about her requests to take time off from the show to go on auditions or to pursue other work, especially if it interfered with an actual taping of the show. One such television show that was extremely interested in Gena was the highly-rated nighttime series
Baywatch
. Gena’s agent tried to work around the show’s timeline, so that if she had to go on an audition, she might only miss out on a rehearsal. The
Baywatch
producers did a second callback for Gena, which meant that she would miss taping one of the two daily shows. She and her agent convinced the producers to allow her to go after this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
TPIR
producers granted her request. Of course, Janice, Holly, and I were not thrilled about the leniency they’d given her, as we had been trying to pursue outside work in the industry for years and were confronted by the producers with an ultimatum: “It’s either your job here at
TPIR,
or take door number four (which didn’t exist).”

Gena’s screen test for
Baywatch
went exceptionally well. We all shared in her joy, but at the same time, we didn’t want to see her go. Everybody on the set sensed that the inevitable was about to happen—we would lose Gena. We didn’t want to think about the possibility of going through the arduous task of looking for another model.

Over the summer break, Gena and I were in communication. She shared with me how excited she was about being considered for a permanent role on
Baywatch
. She said that waiting to hear back from them was killing her, but she thanked God that she was keeping busy, working on various commercials, print work, and some special personal appearances. She was becoming very popular, and she was in great demand.

Gena had so endeared herself to me, especially when she came to my mother’s 70
th
birthday luau that summer in July 1995. The party was located at a friend’s home near our residence in the predominantly black, affluent community of Baldwin Hills. Baldwin Hills is the equivalent of the Hollywood Hills, with breathtaking views of all of Los Angeles County— and some could see the Pacific Ocean. Gena and her husband weren’t familiar with our side of town, so it took them a while to find the party. When she finally arrived, she said they were lost and had almost given up. Greg admitted that they were about two blocks away from turning around to go back home, but Gena had promised me that she would be there and stood her ground. She was bound and determined to find the party—and so she did.

My dear, sweet Holly had showed up in grand fashion to support this special event for my mother, whom she adored. Gena and Holly made my mother’s birthday a special night to remember, and for that, I shall always be grateful to them both.

As we took our familiar seats in the Green Room in September, when we’d returned from our summer hiatus, I noticed that Holly wasn’t in attendance, nor was Gena. Much to my surprise, sitting in Holly’s seat was a new, pretty young blonde model. Paul began the meeting by saying, “I would like everyone to welcome Deana. She will be with us this week, trying out for the newest Barker Beauty position. Sadly, Holly has taken an early retirement and wants to pursue her acting career, so she won’t be returning to the show. And Gena has been cast on
Baywatch
as a series regular in a co-starring role. She won’t be coming back either.”

Most everyone was shocked and upset about Holly’s untimely departure. I was crushed and in disbelief. I was also saddened to know that Gena wouldn’t be coming back, but not surprised. I was truly happy for her as the newest
Baywatch
babe. But what the hell happened to Holly? What
really
caused Holly to no longer be a Barker Beauty after nineteen years? Although Holly and I were close friends, she and Janice were even closer, so if anyone knew the real truth, it was Janice. After the meeting, I went straight to Janice and said, “Okay, give me the skinny on what really happened with Holly.”

Janice said, “Holly told me they offered her an early retirement because she had always had problems with her weight, and that she probably wouldn’t change, so they let her go.”

“Come on, we both know there is more to it than that,” I remarked.

Janice said, “I don’t really feel comfortable elaborating on the private conversations that she and I shared over the summer, so I suggest you talk to her personally. I’m sure she would love to hear from you.”

I decided to wait after the second show was over, and called Holly from my dressing room before I went home. It was heartbreaking hearing her voice on the other end as she began to lay down the awful truth as to why she was unable to return to her second home, her love—her life—her job of nineteen years.

Holly began by saying, “Well Kath, shortly after we began the summer hiatus in mid-July, right after your mom’s party, I received a call from Barker, and he said that my weight has always been a problem and probably always will be; therefore,
they wanted to offer me an early retirement. I was in total shock. I told Barker that I had gone off the medication and lost most of the excess weight and asked if they would delay any early retirement decision until after the summer hiatus, which would give me adequate time to lose the remaining weight. Barker said that losing weight at this late point in the game was not an option, because retirement was my only offer. I basically refused to take the early retirement, so he fired me.” Holly explained.

“Are you serious, Holly?” I asked in disbelief. “After Barker told you to do whatever it took to lose the weight, he still refused to give you the summer to do it? That is so unfair. So in reality, he fired you under the pretext of weight gain, because clearly, you complied with their demand to lose the weight. It sounds more like an act of retaliation to me because you didn’t completely side with him and bash Dian. Barker is a pompous asshole.”

“You’re getting it now, Kath. That’s mainly the
real
reason Barker wanted me gone. Did you know he wanted me to conspire with him to get back at Dian for all of the problems she was causing him and the show with the negativity from her pending lawsuit? He asked me if I would give a list of Dian’s former boyfriends, lovers, and sexual partners to a reporter friend of mine who works for one of the tabloid newspapers; he was hoping that Dian’s new fiancé would be shocked by the revelations and dump her.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I told him that I didn’t think my friend would be interested in running a story about Dian’s ex-boyfriends, and Barker blew up. That’s when he really started in on me and began focusing on my weight. I was essentially fired because I refused to back Barker during Dian’s lawsuit. The weight issue was just a ploy to cover the real truth.”

After Holly was terminated and Gena had left, the producers decided to go with three models. That was probably the best decision they’d made in a long time.