What was up with Kendra Wilkinson‘s hospitalizations last year? She’s finally spilling all — and that means opening up about a “really crazy identity crisis.”
Page Six chatted with the former Playboy star last Thursday in LA at DirecTV Gets Real with People & Entertainment Weekly. It was there that Kendra opened up about her mental health challenges over the last year — and particularly how tough it was for her to continuously reinvent herself and her career.
Related: Kendra Wilkinson Clarifies THOSE Comments About Attending Diddy’s Parties!
Kendra started off by expressing how “weird” it was for her “coming back to the celebrity world” again for the event, noting that she was in “a little bit of shell shock.” The sex symbol turned reality star has seen a TON of change over the years — from being on magazine covers to a handful of different TV shows. She then became a wife and mom… and then a divorcée. Most recently, she’s been a real estate agent, a huge departure from her OG stardom days. That is a LOT of different identities. Phew!
Despite feeling out of place, Kendra reminded herself that she has “20 years of [reality] television under [her] belt,” but she still noted:
“I feel like I don’t fit in or something.”
Aw! The Girls Next Door star has had a lengthy and ever-changing career, though she’s often remained in the spotlight in some way. For instance, after obtaining a real estate license in 2020, she filmed her new chapter on the show Kendra Sells Hollywood which ran from 2021 to 2023. But the new career was still a big change for her — and the “hardest challenge” she’s ever gone through! She told the outlet, who released the interview on Wednesday:
“It was the hardest, hardest challenge of my life to go from Hollywood to real estate because the majority of people already assumed they knew who I was. They assumed that I passed my real estate exam for the sake of television. So there’s a lot of assumptions. There was a lot of barriers I had to break down, and it took a toll on my mental health.”
She then “went through a really crazy identity crisis,” pointing out that “being sexualized was a major part of it.” Hugh Hefner‘s ex explained:
“I didn’t wanna be sexualized anymore, and I wanted to just throw away that part of me that people once knew — like, you know, that wild, fun, crazy girl that I was on television. I wanted just to unzip and throw that costume away and just become a realtor, and be a mom and a realtor.”
But, of course, that wasn’t a simple transition! This all led to a breaking point last September when she wound up in the hospital twice in one week after “going through a downward spiral of thoughts” and experiencing “a manic state of anxiety” for a prolonged time. She recalled:
“I didn’t know how to breathe. I didn’t know how to function as a human being. There was a lot that I had to get through, and there was a lot of begging for mercy from God that I had to go through. It was a lot.”
Oh, wow. That sounds really tough…
It was early last September when reports broke that Kendra was rushed to the ER for a panic attack. Several weeks later, she revealed she underwent treatment for depression and anxiety, which helped her get back on her feet. Seemingly referencing this with Page Six, the model said she had to “learn how to think again, think positively and rearrange [her] thoughts.”
Thankfully, it sounds like the 39-year-old is doing so much better! She told the outlet she feels stronger mentally and is back to “working on two [reality] television projects at the moment” — which she promises will be very different than previous shows. Kendra teased:
“They’re gonna be fun. My last show was a little bit depressing because I was going through these identity issues [with the] camera on. So I didn’t get a chance to, like, settle in and enjoy myself. So I finally feel settled in. I feel like I’m growing into myself. I feel like I can think clearly. I’m back to life again. I am brave. I feel like I can think positively. So now is a good time to really enjoy entertaining the world again.”
One show will apparently follow her dating life! She dished:
“There’s a couple things that the audience hasn’t seen me do yet — one of them is dating. No one has seen me date yet.”
Insisting she has “no idea how to date,” the blonde beauty said:
“I’m finally saying, ‘OK, my kids are in a good place, I’m in a good place. Is it time to start dating? Yes, it is.’ So I don’t mind the cameras following that.”
Exciting!
After her romance with Hugh, Kendra married NFL star Hank Baskett in 2009, welcoming Hank Jr., 14, and Alijah, 10, with him. She said both kids are “doing amazing” and while they divorced in 2018, she had nothing but nice things to say about her ex, calling him “a great father.” Sweet!
We’re sorry to hear she went through such a tough time, but it’s great she got the help she needed and that she’s doing so much better! Thoughts? Share them (below).
For resources on mental health, visit https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/find-help.
[Image via Nikki Nelson/WENN & Max/YouTube & Kendra Wilkinson/Instagram]