Exclusive First Look With Baywatch Icon Gena Lee Nolin At Resorts World Las Vegas
FAMOUS WORDS FROM A BAYWATCH BEAUTY.
“I haven’t worn a red swimsuit in 25 years and I never thought there would be enough money in the world to get me in it again,” expressed Gena Lee Nolin.
The one-time Price is Right model-turned-Baywatch beauty played “bad girl” Neely Capshaw on the iconic TV series seen ‘round the world. But after four seasons as the legendary lifeguard, Nolin retired her (in)famous one-piece for good, or so she thought.
“I’m not dissing Baywatch or how iconic it was, but I’m going to be 53 this year, and honestly, who wants to see a 53-year-old in a bathing suit from the nineties?”
But a recent weekend getaway with her husband to Crockfords at Resorts World Las Vegas changed her tune and quickly turned into a red swimsuit revival.
Nolin says a chance encounter with Bobbi Althoff of The Really Good Podcast led to a night out at Bobbi’s hugely successful live show on The Strip. That’s when Nolin met [Deluxe Version Magazine publisher] Timothy Hancock, who then set up a photo shoot poolside at Resorts World the next day, along with the hotel’s chief marketing officer, Ronn Nicolli.
“I knew it. I was like, ‘Okay, they’re gonna have me in a red suit,” Nolin jokes.
Sure enough, they found a red one-piece from Fred Segal, and just like that, Neely was back.
“I could’ve said I’d rather do just a regular suit, but, why not? It worked. It was such a fluky destiny-type weekend and it felt right,” Nolin says. After an exciting few days of posting poolside-fun, relaxing at AWANA Spa, dining at FUHU, and even experiencing Carrie Underwood’s headlining show on property, “It was a no-brainer and it felt like this is a family.”
“I spoke to Ronn at great length about the shoot and it just felt like this is home,” Nolin says. She is no stranger to the world-renowned travel destination, has family that lives in town, and was once crowned Miss Las Vegas 1989! But it was the Baywatch role that made her forever famous, so Nolin agreed there’s no time like the present to pay homage to the past.
“I’m a mother [of three], a wife, an entrepreneur, an author [Beautiful Inside and Out: Conquering Thyroid Disease with a Healthy, Happy, “Thyroid Sexy” Life]; I’m all these things,” Nolin says. “There’s so many things that I have going on, and I’m in a different space in my life. I felt very empowered too for other women my age. A lot of our kids are now growing up, they’ve left the nest, and there’s still some oomph in me. Ha!”
Being a part of a television show that took the world by storm was very special, Nolin says, even though it was overwhelming.
“I went to California to go to college and I wasn’t looking to model or be a star or whatever, but it all just sort of aligned for me.”
That’s why she is excited to participate in the upcoming Hulu Baywatch documentary being produced by fellow co-star (and “warrior woman”) Nicole Eggert.
“In the Baywatch documentary, I got very, very candid about a lot of personal things,” Nolin admits. “Very personal, but it felt like the right time.”
Timing is everything and it looks like it won’t be the blonde bombshell’s last visit to Resorts World Las Vegas. “It feels like home. I’m a lifer. Haha!”
Keep up with Gena Lee Nolin on Instagram at @genaleenolin
