At the peak of her fame, Caprice Bourret had achieved things most young stars can only dream of.
She graced more than 250 magazine covers, from Vogue to Sports Illustrated, and strode catwalks all over the world. But the star, now 53, says she still has one major regret. She should never have turned down the lead role in Baywatch.
She was offered the chance to take over when fellow blonde Pamela Anderson left the wildly popular show in 1997. “I think I believed my own bulls*** at the time,” Caprice admits.
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“I thought I would be stereotyped as this dumb blonde character. And I look back now and think, ‘What an idiot! Why didn’t I take it?’”. But the beauty, now a mum-of-two, was still reeling from her rapid rise to fame.
Born into an unassuming Los Angeles family, she moved to London in 1994 and made her name as a Wonderbra model. And thanks to her high-profile flings with stars like Rod Stewart and footie ace Tony Adams, she was never out of the papers.
(Image: ExpressStar)
“The height of my fame was so big,” she says. “I was from a normal, middle-class family and all of a sudden
I had yes people everywhere telling me how wonderful I was. You think it’s going to be like that forever.”
When she tried to move into acting, she was flooded with offers. But she says all the parts were the same – the classic “babe”, who was beautiful to look at but had very little else going on.
And when her By Caprice lingerie range started taking off in the early Noughties, her acting dreams fell by the wayside. It took a life-changing event to bring them back into focus.
(Image: Daily Mirror)
That came in 2017, when she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. “You really wake up when you have a bit of a health scare,” she says. “But I believe things happen for a reason. It’s changed my life and made me a better person.”
Caprice, who was training for Channel 4 reality show The Jump at the time, had a gruelling seven-hour op to get rid of the growth. But she made a full recovery – and says the experience has left her more positive.
She decided to give acting another shot, but found casting directors were still reluctant to take her seriously.
So finally, she set up her own production company.
(Image: ExpressStar)
The model-turned-media mogul has since sold three movies through JJLove Productions, including new romcom A European Christmas. “I love Christmas, I’m obsessed with Christmas,” she says. “The first week of November I get all of my Christmas gear out. It’s the happiest time of the year.
“So when I did a Christmas movie, I thought, ‘This is the perfect avenue for me.’ I want people to watch my films and get a positive feeling – they know how it’s going to end but they don’t care because it makes them feel good.”
(Image: Baywatch)
Set in snowy Serbia, the film stars Caprice as a jaded director who falls in love with her leading man and rediscovers the magic of Christmas. It also features her long-time pal, Blue singer Duncan James.
“He’s been one of my best friends for over 20 years,” she says. “Back in the day we were inseparable, we hung out all the time. He was brilliant to work with. I wish we’d written a much chunkier role for him, he was so good.”
A European Christmas is airing on Channel 5 on December 1 and will also be available to stream on My5.