Like Jenny McCarthy, Ereka made her way into television stardom after first being spotted within the pages of Playboy. It should be no surprise that the producers of Baywatch were looking in that direction for casting ideas, and in 1989 she was cast as Shauni, a role she held until 1992.
Action movie fans may recognize her as the Playmate who jumped out of a cake and found herself in big trouble with Steven Seagal's blockbuster "Under Siege". A promising career seemed to beckon, but unfortunately Ereka was struggling with personal issues, which manifested themselves as rapid weight gain and loss. Having won the majority of her roles partially because of her looks, it took a while for Ereka to get onto the road to recovery, and since 2010 she's been mostly retired from the world of showbiz. Happy and settled as a mother now, she'll forever be remembered as a sex siren of the 1990s.
Chefs made their way into celebrity land a while ago. But how many celebrities that weren’t trained as professional cooks are actually whizzes in the kitchen? Here are several that come to mind.
Actress Julia Roberts is confident about her cooking skills. “I’m quite a good cook,” she told E! News. “I’m like a closet home ec teacher…I can really cook anything.” Roberts has said she often cooks fish for herself and her kids. And speaking of her three children, “They think that I’m a good cook,” Roberts told People. “They actually told me that I should open a restaurant.” She also relishes cooking for the holidays, particularly shredded Brussel sprouts. Roberts hasn’t published a cookbook, but we did find recipes attributed to her for peach crisp and banana hemp muffins. Or you can make the same summer salad the actress supposedly eats.
Chrissy Teigen started off as a supermodel. Then her love of cooking filtered into her professional life too. At this point, she’s created recipes for a limited Blue Apron release and also just launched her own home and cooking line at Target named “Cravings,” after the two cookbooks she’s released. Teigen describes cooking as “a time of peace” for herself. So maybe peace out to her tuna melt sandwich or the fried chicken wings that are a favorite of her husband, John Legend.
Lady Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, comes from a cooking Italian family. Her father started his own restaurant in New York and also published a cookbook. And apparently, Lady Gaga has inherited the family’s cooking genes. Her Instagram account occasionally features photos of her culinary activities. Sure, sometimes it’s topless cooking. But other times it’s more poignant like in the post she shared about her bringing food to the family of her dear friend who passed away. Want to try a Gaga/Germanotta family favorite? Check out her recipe for whole wheat pasta with a sweet fennel sauce.