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Ready, Set, Splash! Today we have a very special "Seven Questions" interview with the gorgeous actress Nicole Eggert! She is of course is best known to sitcom fans as Jamie Powell on the popular Scott Baio sitcom Charles in Charge. She then went on of course to do Baywatch where she starred opposite David Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson in that famous red swimsuit. Nicole's had a solid career so far with lots of TV and film roles and now she is on an ABC competition show called Splash, where she dives off a high-board into a pool against other celebrities. Splash airs Tuesdays at 8|7c on ABC. We talked to her on Tuesday just hours before her first dive aired on Splash, which was episode two. We found out about why she joined the series, what went through her mind in a horrific pre-dive warm-up, her battle with her post pregnancy weight and why it's taken her longer to lose that weight. And of course we asked her about her past work such as Charles in Charge, Baywatch, and even her very early roles on Who's the Boss? and T.J. Hooker. We also delved deeper into her career and life and we got some insight of how she started acting, what she plans to do next after Splash, and other very interesting tidbits! So let's get right to another installment of "Seven Questions!"

"Seven Questions with Nicole Eggert From ABC's Splash"



SitcomsOnline: It's so great to finally interview you! We've been a big fan of yours since your sitcom days on Charles in Charge and your recurring role on Who's the Boss? But first let's begin talking about your current venture, Splash. The series premiered last week with a big splash in the ratings and your first dive is airing tonight (Tuesday, March 26). What made you decide to join this series and were you ever reluctant in signing on? Did you know any of the celebrities previously?
Nicole Eggert: I had met Kendra once before but that was it, I didn't know anybody else. And I decided to do it because it was sort of like humping on my bucket list and it was something like I always kind of admired and wish I could do. And so with this opportunity with professional trainers like this, it just seemed like a great opportunity.



SitcomsOnline: So the training pool that all the Splash stars are training in is the same pool you trained on for Baywatch. How is it like going back to that pool after nearly 20 years and how has training for Splash been going you think? Also, a video preview of one of your pre-dive warm-ups before your first dive was posted online and we saw a scary incident. Anything you can share with us from that experience? All I'll say was, man you're so brave and courageous!
Nicole Eggert: Well, training has been going good, there's really good days and there's bad days (laughs). Some days I am excited to go and other days I'm panicking and dragging myself there. But it's neat to be there at that pool because you know on Baywatch we did a lot of shooting in that pool and also my character on Baywatch was a high diver. So we would do a lot of high diving stuff there and you know of course they would just shoot me up on the platform and then shoot me coming out of the pool and then there was you know a professional diver that did you know all the hard work. And all the diving in between, so it's just kind of funny in full circle to be there and now being the one that has to go off those platforms because in those days I would look down and say 'I would never do that,' you know, I wouldn't even jump off of there, so it's pretty ironic. As for the scary incident, thank you...you know what it really scared me but it was a lot scarier than it did hurt, you know it didn't hurt me physically as much as it just scared me and I mean I don't know how I guess I expect to do a show like this and these things not happen...and my oldest daughter was there and she saw me fall and you know I know it scared her and I just wanted to not only for myself but for her to get back up and face that fear again and when you don't succeed you just get up and do it again. And that's what I had to do (laughs).



SitcomsOnline: You know the paparazzi and some media outlets can be so mean for no reason, but little do they know that your post-pregnancy weight was because of a result of some health problems. Can you share with us what these health problems are and how everything is going now? You sure do look amazing now!
Nicole Eggert: Oh thank you so much! I still have my last 10 pounds to go and I think it's kind of been on hold because of the show, it's really hard to have a rigorous workout schedule on top of this training, so I've kind of been staying steady. I have hyper thyroid and I had adrenal exhaustion. I kind of suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and when that happened I knocked a lot of my chemical balances off, like my body just wasn't chemically balanced properly and it never repaired itself and then I got pregnant, especially at 39 years old getting pregnant. Then my body, we all know a woman's chemistry goes crazy when they're pregnant, after the birth my body could never balance back out and it was really all out of whack. I wasn't producing any of the proper good hormones, I was only producing bad hormones and some things that cause swelling and I just had a whole handful of imbalances, so I take a lot of medications, I take a lot of hormones for thyroid, I take a lot vitamins and supplements. I take probably 25 things and I have to give myself two shots every day. I'm feeling a lot better, diet and exercise at that point was able to work and be effective, which started to feel good. I'll always have it a little bit harder than your average person to lose the weight just because my body you know it kind of fights itself. The medicine is helping a lot and I'm feeling a lot better and at least I have answers now. It makes me feel a lot better.



SitcomsOnline: Let's take a step back to reflect on your past work. I loved Charles in Charge and watched it every day. It certainly made you a big star and all the teenage guys watching were going crazy for you, I think. It was such a fun show with a great ensemble. Can you share with us how you got the role of Jamie Powell and share some experiences from that show? A reunion would be so cool, I think.
Nicole Eggert: Aw, thank you. I auditioned for it and Al Burton was the executive producer over at Universal and I had auditioned for him for other shows and I don't know they cast me and I was so excited, very very excited. I was doing Who's the Boss? at the time recurring and that was making me want to have my own show, to be a regular on a sitcom, so I was really really excited to be cast in that. The day I started on Charles in Charge was the day I was supposed to start high school (laughs), so it was all kind of monumental and I wasn't really looking forward going to public high school. I wanted to be working and my wish came true, and all my friends started high school and I started work (laughs). It was the best years. I think a reunion would be amazing. I'm not sure if all of the cast members are still alive. I heard that James T. Callahan had died and tried to contact him. So sad.

SitcomsOnline: And even more of step back, you just mentioned Who's the Boss, you were great on that series as Alyssa Milano's best friend during the first few seasons and as William Shatner's daughter on T.J. Hooker. When did you decide you wanted to get into acting and what was it like working with stars like William Shatner, Heather Locklear, Tony Danza, and Alyssa Milano early on in your career?
Nicole Eggert: All of them were amazing and great people to work with and you know I was very very young and I didn't really know who they were, I just knew them as people that I met and was working with, you know I didn't know them as such major celebrities. They were all so warm and welcoming and I learned so much from everybody. Everybody was just so kind and so much fun and I learned a lot on those two shows to lead-up to be able to handle doing Charles in Charge. As for getting into acting, oddly enough because this is so out of my character, when I was about four years old I did a beauty pageant and it was Miss Universe for kids and I won Miss Universe, so it was televised and after that casting directors started calling booking me for commercials, I did a movie of the week with Cheryl Ladd & Robert Urich. And from that I started getting calls to do commercials and my first commercial that I did was Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo and Coppertone, and I just had so much fun. My parents are European and I think they were open to let me try to have a different life than what they had and different opportunities than what they were given and we thought we'll try this to see you know how this goes and it was a blast and I've been on this journey ever since.



SitcomsOnline: After Charles in Charge, a few years later you of course went into the mega hit show Baywatch during its third season. We can't have an interview without mentioning that show since it's a game changer. This show changed your life even more. What was the decision on going from sitcoms to Baywatch, where you were surrounded by stars like Pamela Anderson?
Nicole Eggert: Well you know Pamela wasn't a big star yet and I had already knew her, she dated Scott (Baio) and she appeared on Charles in Charge so I had known her. So it was fun that I was going to know somebody on set. We started the show together, it was our first season so we were all kind of in it together and David Charvet I knew, I grew up with him, so it was kind of neat to be on a show where you already knew two people. And the producer from Charles in Charge, Al Burton, was producing what was supposed to be a spin-off of Baywatch and that's when I got involved. I was never really supposed to be on Baywatch as a lifeguard, they tried to do a high school spin-off like a beach high school thing and that was the true intention of bringing me onto the show. And I think the new cast, the dynamic was working so well for Baywatch, they didn't want to split it up and they kind of let go of the idea of the spin-off. So I stayed there and it was okay, I don't think it did a lot for my career, you know, I immediately got pigeon holed as to like a bimbo and all that kind of stuff. As far as getting good roles after that, it made my life a little bit harder, but it is what it is. A lot of people obviously liked it, because it was successful, but it was just harder to be taken seriously in the industry after that show.



SitcomsOnline: We've been following your career and besides the stuff I already mentioned, I have to say I loved watching your guest appearances on Married... with Children, Boy Meets World, and in the movies What Lies Above, Wall of Secrets, Holiday Switch, Blown Away and Amanda & the Alien. I don't think using paprika has ever been the same since Amanda & the Alien, ha! So, what projects are coming up next for you that you can share with us...perhaps a sitcom? Would you consider doing Dancing with the Stars now that you have experienced Splash? Thanks for spending some time with us despite your busy training/taping schedule for Splash! We're rooting for you on Splash!
Nicole Eggert: I don't know, that would be my dream to be on a sitcom or a filmed show of any kind really, that would be my dream, you know this (Splash) just came up right as when I started getting healthy and getting better. I haven't been feeling so great that long and this (Splash) is so consuming, so I think we'll start looking at what's next pretty shortly, I just haven't had an opportunity yet and I know the phone is ringing, and there's things but I haven't been able to seriously look at anything yet. Well, now that I have experienced this (Splash), yes I would consider Dancing with the Stars because now that doesn't seem as scary. Now that seems like a piece of cake (laughs). Thank you! I appreciate it and I appreciate all the support. Thank you so much!



We definitely appreciate Nicole for taking the time to give us an interview despite the busy schedule! She is so very nice and beautiful inside and out and we hope nothing but success for her on Splash and in future projects! That'll do it for this installment of "Seven Questions," stay tuned next time for another brand new interview! But first, don't forget to check out Nicole Eggert all over the web and social media. Follow her everywhere!

• Nicole Eggert Official Website
• Nicole Eggert on Twitter
• Nicole Eggert on Facebook
• Nicole Eggert on Instagram
• Nicole Eggert on Splash

Tune in to Nicole on Splash this Tuesday at 8|7c on ABC. And check out Nicole's credits on IMDb and TV.com!



On the next...Raising Hope:
By: Todd

Fox's Tuesday sitcom starring Martha Plimpton airs on a special night and time tonight after Idol and we have just watched two-episode finale that airs tonight (Mar. 28) at 9:00pm & 9:30pm. In the first of the two-episode finale airing tonight, "Burt Mitzvah - The Musical," Burt's (Garret Dillahunt) parents (guest stars Shirley Jones and Lee Majors) come to town with the surprising news that he is actually Jewish. So, Burt takes a musical crash-course in his newfound heritage to prepare for the Bar Mitzvah he never had. In the second episode airing tonight, "Mother's Day," it's a holiday to remember as Burt and Barney (Gregg Binkley) road trip to Maw Maw's (Cloris Leachman) childhood home and learn that her mother may still be alive.

In "Burt Mitzvah - The Musical," Burt gets musical (and kosher) in the first of two episodes. Burt and Virginia bring back a ham in Hope's car set for an Easter dinner. Burt's parents, Christine and Ralph, arrive at the house. They have some big news to announce. Christine discovers that she is Jewish after attending a Bar Mitzvah and talking to a genealogist about her cousin. She suggests that Burt embrace his new heritage and have a Bar Mitzvah. Burt and Jimmy then go to a kosher deli to pick up some food and get information on the religion. Everybody at the deli, including the bagels, then break out in a song and dance number about Judaism. Burt tells his parents that he wants to be bar mitzvahed. Christine is pleased that he is finally going to become a man after forty years. Burt then joins a class to study and prepare. Later, the ladies go to Howdy's Market to shop for the Seder dinner. It's then time for another song and dance number as Barney and the entire store participates. Burt is struggling to learn everything and wants to quit, but Jimmy tries to talk him out of it. A final musical number and elaborate video is then shown. After Burt sees Ralph stealing money from his one of his cards, he learns a shocking secret.

In "Mother's Day," Burt and Barney take a road trip to Hagerstown and are surprised to see that Maw Maw's mother is still alive. Burt and Virginia show Maw Maw some old records and recipes in order to try and jog some of her memories. They look for some pictures of her mother to help her remember her. Jimmy gives Virginia a necklace that Hope made, but it turns out that was for Sabrina. Burt goes to Howdy's Market to stock up on some food for a road trip to Hagerstown to take some photos of the house that Maw Maw grew up in. Barney offers to help and keep him company. They are surprised to learn that Norma Jean Mayfair is still alive at the house when she takes a shotgun out and points it at them. Virginia, Jimmy and Sabrina prepare dinner and talk about Hope's life, which Sabrina wasn't part of at the beginning. Burt and Barney pretend to be angels in order to get Norma Jean to come out of the house. The family meets their 104-year-old great grandmother. Maw Maw and Norma Jean then fight. An old time black and white film is played. They haven't spoke in over seventy years because of a disagreement over twenty-five cents. Jimmy then gives Sabrina the necklace in the box. Barney discovers that something has happened to Norma Jean in the bathroom. The episode wraps up with Sabrina giving Virginia a gift and having a heartfelt talk.



Raising Hope wraps up its third season with a pair of episodes tonight. The first episode is clearly the funnier and more entertaining of the two. Shirley Jones and Lee Majors make their second guest appearances tonight. They first appeared in a memorable Thanksgiving episode in the second season. Tonight they visit to celebrate Easter. It's a very fun episode. Jones and Majors are wonderful here. It's too bad this was their only appearance of the season. The main highlights in this episode are the three musical numbers. These are very well-choreographed and even educational song and dance numbers. The second episode airing is a bit of a letdown. It just doesn't have the feeling of a season finale. There's no cliffhanger or series-changing moment. It feels like a regular stand-a-lone episode. There are a few funny moments, such as the fight between Maw Maw and Norma Jean and the old time film. Virginia and Sabrina also have some sweet scenes, as they try to settle some of their issues. It ends with a nice song montage. Even though the show has struggled in the ratings this season, thankfully it has already been renewed for a fourth season. They should receive a nice boost in viewers tonight airing after American Idol. I look forward to seeing more crazy antics from the Chance family in the fall. 1st episode: B+, 2nd episode: C+