Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett isn’t your average soccer mom, but she’s far from her days as the Girl Next Door. Over the past three years, the former playmate and girlfriend to Hugh Hefner switched up her role, becoming a loving wife, mother and a dynamic force in reality television.
Admitting she “lost her groove” after a bout of postpartum depression, she’s back this summer with a new venture with WE tv’s Kendra on Top: a fresh look into her life with husband Hank, son Little Hank, and her crazy, sexy, cool moments.
Vixen had the opportunity to catch up with Kendra to discuss her newfound zest for life, weight loss and her intimacy line, Love Candy.
VIBE VIXEN: How do you feel about your show being on a new network?
KENDRA WILKINSON: I feel awesome! WE tv couldn’t have been a better place for me and my family. It feels like a better fit. It feels more real to us. E! really helped launch me and my show, and I’ll never forget where I come from, but looking forward, WE is like a family and they’ve really been supportive of me like I’ve never felt before.
How will Kendra on Top differ from Kendra?
Kendra on Top is more about my life today. It’s a continuation of my story for my followers and for people that have followed me ever since I left the Playboy mansion. I just have a real story. It’s just an all-American girl type story. It’s a little bit out of the norm but it’s still a real story. It’s a story about a girl that grew up, became a wife and a mother and is getting the weight off in front of the cameras. We’re adding more color to our life. It’s like Sex and the City with a lot of my girlfriends, but it’s also about my family. I have a family, I am a business woman, but I still have a social life and a sex life.
It took you two and a half years to get back in shape after Little Hank’s birth. What’s your exercise regimen like?
If I don’t work out. I usually stick to a diet. I usually cut the calories, the fat, the sugar, the sodium, and I really pay attention to the ingredients of what I’m putting into my body when I’m not able to exercise. I eat badly every now and again when I’m exercising, but I do a lot. I do Bikram Yoga; I workout in the gym with the biggest trainers in the NFL. It’s not just sticking with one routine. There are a lot of different routines that I do. If my body get’s used to something I have to move on. It’s about keeping spark in your life. Having spark in your life is new. Your diet, routine, sex life, everything should be new.
During the first episode, you had a pregnancy scare. Are you interested in expanding your family in the future?
Yeah, it’s very important for us to have another child. Right now, we love going out with our friends and shaking our ass. We just show on our show how we can be great parents, but go out and party too at the same time. We’re not ready to quit all of it yet. We’re fun people. We’re young. When it’s time, we’ll know. We’re not ready to do the care-taking thing all over yet. Little Hank is in preschool, he’s growing up, so we just have the time to have to ourselves, our sex lives and social lives to go out. We’re not ready to cut that out yet.
You’ve also openly suffered from postpartum depression. What advice can you offer to mothers who may be going through the same thing?
Postpartum depression is pretty serious. You can cry on your husband, family, and friends, but never, ever look at them as therapist; they’re not trained professionals. You can’t expect the people around you to know what you’re going through; that’s why there’s therapy. I’m a pretty stubborn person, so I never really preached therapy until it really made sense.
How have you been supporting Hank through his career changes?
It has been tough. I’m not saying he’s retired, but we just said, Okay we’re not going to just keep waiting around for a phone call. That’s what the game is; it’s basically sitting around and waiting for a freaking phone call from a team. They never really tell you, ‘It’s time for you to move on.’ You just have to make that choice or you’re going to be waiting around for God knows how long. We finally found that time and he did [move one]. At first we didn’t know what he was going to do, but that’s why he has a degree. He went to college for four years for a reason. He went to business school, got his degree, he has a 4.0, he’s just a brilliant guy. That’s why it’s important for NFL players to go to school because it’s definitely useful to you after football. That’s what we’re showing in Kendra on Top. It’s not easy for NFL players to leave. It’s a very tough transition. You’re going from big money to big lifestyle to big ego to the rug being taken out from under your feet and it’s done.
What’s the most surprising thing you think fans will be shocked to learn about you this season?
I think fans will be surprised to know how I’m raising Little Hank. It’s always a shock, going into someone’s world and seeing how they raise their kids. If it’s not their way, it’s the wrong way. Not only raising my son, but there’s also shock in what I call my career. I have a lot of business moves I’m doing. I’m writing books. It’s all there on my show. I’m putting out a Love Candy kit. It’s helping lovers out with their love lives and spicing it up a little bit because when you get married, you have to spark things up again, so I created that.
Tell us a little bit more about Love Candy.
Love Candy is a kit I put together. It’s all aphrodisiac-infused body oils and bath salts. In my show, I actually add something new to it that I should have in the first place. I’m very excited about it. I’m just helping out women all over the world with my Love Candy kit. Everything I do in my business is something that I’m going through in my personal life. I’ve been married for three years; we’re in a place in our lives where we have to be more creative in our sex lives. I put out the Love Candy kit as a reflection of that.
Where can we grab the kit?
You can go to mylovecandy.com. It has a lot of stuff on there. We’re just now adding lingerie and massagers to it. On the show you’ll get to see how I do that. Wait for the really launch of the really fun stuff.
What’s the number one tip you can give to couples looking to spice up their sex life?
You just have to be creative and be more spontaneous. When you think about it, just do it. Don’t think about it too long. You’ll end up falling asleep. When you think about it, just go out and do it. A lot of people are like, “I’m too tired. I’m too tired.” But, there’s always a moment in a married person’s head where they’re like “I want to do it.” When that thought comes in your head, just take off your clothes, hop on your guy and do it. Don’t wait because you’ll fall asleep.