{"id":799557,"date":"2026-08-02T16:11:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T16:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/799557\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T16:11:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T16:11:16","slug":"carmen-electra-returns-to-playboy-at-54-and-defies-ageism-critics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/799557\/","title":{"rendered":"Carmen Electra returns to Playboy at 54 and defies ageism critics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!\n <\/p>\n

Carmen Electra isn’t ready to hand over her sex symbol crown.<\/p>\n

At 54, the “Baywatch” bombshell is returning to Playboy three decades after becoming one of the magazine’s most iconic cover stars with a message for critics: Age isn’t calling the shots.<\/p>\n

The actress and model first appeared in the magazine in 1996 at age 24 and now graces the pages of Playboy’s Summer 2026 issue, which is on sale now. Posing in fishnets, Electra also answered readers’ burning questions about love.<\/p>\n

CARMEN ELECTRA CHANNELS HER PLAYBOY PAST IN LEOPARD-PRINT BUNNY COSTUME ON THE RED CARPET<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Carmen <\/p>\n

Carmen Electra is in the summer 2026 issue of Playboy, available now. (Gerome Defrance\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Electra has a message for women<\/a> who think getting older means fading into the background: Don’t buy it.<\/p>\n

“Don’t let anyone tell you you’re too old,” she told Fox News Digital. “That’s a myth. You are living your own life. You’re not living your life for other people. And honestly, if you’re manifesting that, that’s what it’s going to be for you. You have to change your thought process. You have to start telling yourself every morning, ‘I’m beautiful. I’m good enough. I look great. I’m pretty.’ Whatever it is that you want to be, you can be that.”<\/p>\n

\"Carmen <\/p>\n

Carmen Electra arrives at The Abbey’s 35th Anniversary at The Abbey Food & Bar in West Hollywood, on May 20, 2026. (Steve Granitz\/FilmMagic\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“At one time in my life, I was reading a lot of books about Buddhism,” she reflected. “I remember one book talked about your inner child and never losing your inner child. And I’ve always been a bit childish. So I always thought, ‘I’m not going to lose it.’ I never want to lose that, and I’m not going to. And I think the people who are older than me, who are still in this business and who I think are beautiful, have a youthful spirit. And people will love you for being who you really, truly are.”<\/p>\n

WATCH: CARMEN ELECTRA REVEALS HER SIMPLE RULE FOR KEEPING THE \u2018SPARK ALIVE\u2019 IN RELATIONSHIPS<\/p>\n

Long before “Baywatch”<\/a> turned her into a household name, Playboy introduced Electra to the world. Electra admitted she never expected to appear in the magazine again.<\/p>\n

\"Carmen <\/p>\n

Carmen Electra stars as lifeguard Lani McKensie on the hit television series “Baywatch” in 1997. (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“I just thought, ‘I’m going to go with the flow of life,'” she laughed. “But look, I figured I’m already posting sexy stuff on my Instagram page. So why not? Let’s go for it. Let’s do it. And it’s Playboy.<\/a> Playboy is so iconic. So let’s do it. And I’m so happy that I did.”<\/p>\n

Electra didn’t have to break into her iconic slow-motion beach run to get camera-ready. For the shoot, a walk around the neighborhood did the trick.<\/p>\n

\"Carmen <\/p>\n

Carmen Electra stepped in as a Playboy advisor and answered pressing questions about love and dating. (Max Montgomery for Playboy)<\/p>\n

“I try to do something every day,” she said. “But I’ve been so busy, and we went straight into shooting. So I didn’t get to prepare the way I wanted to. I really wanted to hit the gym<\/a>, but I ended up taking walks in the neighborhood to make everything happen on time. But it looks so good. And I’m even happier with the reaction from everyone else out there.”<\/p>\n

Electra said she reads her DMs and that fans have flooded her with heartfelt messages following her return to Playboy.<\/p>\n

\"Carmen <\/p>\n

Carmen Electra plays Celebrity Bunny Dealer at the Playboy Club at The Palms Hotel in Las Vegas, on Dec. 13, 2008. (Jon Kopaloff\/FilmMagic)<\/p>\n

“It’s changed,” she said. “At one time, some people were going in on me, and I’m like, ‘What did I do to you?’ I read everything. And I got to this place with myself where I was like, ‘It’s not my problem. I’m putting myself out there. If someone doesn’t like what I’m doing, they have the right not to like it.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

“I came to terms with that. And once I came to terms with that, my followers changed a lot. Every once in a while, somebody will say something negative. I ignore it, whatever. For the most part, it’s all about love.”<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Carmen Electra first appeared in Playboy in May 1996. (Max Montgomery for Playboy)<\/p>\n

“I have a tattoo on my wrist that says ‘love,'” she shared. “I’ve always been about love. I’ve always come from a place of love. And if we could all do that, what a wonderful place we could be in. If you really mess with me, I don’t know how much love you’re going to get. But I truly believe in love. And I feel it from my followers. Look, sometimes I’m trying different things on my Instagram page. Not everyone’s going to love those things, and you might not get as many likes. But you turn around and boom, my fans are there.”<\/p>\n

After making a splash in Hollywood, Electra has discovered what makes her feel most confident, and it has nothing to do with looking glamorous. For her, it’s being booked and busy.<\/p>\n

\"Carmen <\/p>\n

Carmen Electra attends the Summer Party “La Grande Bellezza” at Restaurant Bellucci on July 9, 2026, in Berlin, Germany. (Gerome Defrance\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

“I feel the most confident when I’m working, and I’ve been working a lot,” she said. “When I’m working, I’m really happy. It’s weird; you would think that by now I’d be over it. But I’m just not. I love it. And the more I work, the more confident I feel. When I’m in love, I feel confident. But I don’t have someone in my life right now. But I’m still confident because I’m working.”<\/p>\n

\"Carmen <\/p>\n

Carmen Electra is in the new issue of Playboy alongside cover girl Cara Delevingne. (Max Montgomery for Playboy)<\/p>\n

These days, Electra is happy to pass the red rescue can to the new cast of “Baywatch,” which is getting the reboot treatment. Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model<\/a> Brooks Nader is set to star as series regular Selene.<\/p>\n

The series was announced by Fox in 2025, nearly 25 years after the original ended in 2001.<\/p>\n

\"Carmen <\/p>\n

Carmen Electra attends the “Scary Movie” global premiere at Paramount Pictures Studios on June 3, 2026, in Los Angeles. (Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)<\/p>\n

“My advice to the ladies is to be in the best shape of your life because you’re really going to be out there on the water, and you’re going to be doing all of these activities,” she said. “You’re going to be running through the sand, diving through waves, jumping over waves and diving off boats. You’re going to be doing some crazy stuff. So just get into your best shape and be ready.”<\/p>\n

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS<\/a><\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

Carmen Electra has racked up more than 150 covers worldwide. (Max Montgomery for Playboy)<\/p>\n

“I also think if you’re a pretty good swimmer, be an even better swimmer,” she continued. “If the show is going to be anything like it was back in the ’90s, it’s really hard. But you know what? I did a good job. You just have to be prepared for it and enjoy the ride because it’s going to be so huge, hopefully all over the world again.”<\/p>\n

\"Carmen <\/p>\n

Carmen Electra arrives at the world premiere of “Infinite Icon: A Visual Memoir” at AMC The Grove 14 in Los Angeles, on Jan. 20, 2026. (Steve Granitz\/FilmMagic)<\/p>\n

Because she’s happiest when she’s working, Electra isn’t ruling out a return to the role that helped define her career. The actress said she’d love to make an appearance in the upcoming “Baywatch” reboot<\/a> if given the chance.<\/p>\n

\"Brande <\/p>\n

From left: Brande Roderick, Carmen Electra and Brandy Ledford attend the premiere of “After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun” at The Bungalow in Santa Monica, California, on Aug. 26, 2024. (Michael Tullberg\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP<\/a><\/p>\n

“Hopefully they’ll think about me and bring me in for a cameo,” she teased.<\/p>\n

Stephanie Nolasco is an Entertainment Reporter for Fox News Digital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Carmen Electra isn’t ready to hand over her sex symbol…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":799558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[88,144835,2236,61469],"class_list":["post-799557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-entertainment","tag-mature","tag-modeling","tag-then-and-now"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=799557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/799557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/799558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=799557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=799557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=799557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}