Angelica

Angelica Bridges has what it takes to stand out in a crowd. "You can't help noticing a red-head, because we are only four percent of the population," says the former Baywatch siren. "I'm a walking contradiction. Most people assume I'm this fiery, passionate woman, and that's true. But I also meditate, pray, go to church every Sunday, rescue animals and want a house with a white picket fence. I'm a total kook, a Lucille Ball type of girl who loves to crack jokes and make animal sounds." Angelica has an array of cartoon and animal voices that she uses in radio commercials, and she demonstrated them by barking and yelping at us over the phone. "I don't take myself seriously at all, so my forte is obviously comedy," she says. "Laughter is so healing. My dream is to host Saturday Night Live."

The 27-year-old co-hosts the new syndicated show What a Fan with Survivor's Gervase Peterson. "We highlight one superathlete each week and show how crazy people get for their favorite teams," she says. So how does Angelica get game? "I play charity volleyball and golf tournaments," she says. "I surprise other golfers when I go out there with my Callaway driver and hit the ball 300 yards!" When she's not tearing up the driving range, Angelica likes busting her acting chops. She made six movies this year, with roles that included one of MacKenzie Astin's girlfriends in the romantic comedy The Month of August, a heart attack-inducing vixen opposite ER's Goran Visnjic in The Last Will, a love interest of Duran Duran's John Taylor in Vegas C.O.D. and a reformed bad girl who campaigns for a maintenance man to be mayor in The Least Likely Candidate. "I believe in reinventing myself and doing things that stimulate me," she says. "Yes, I started out as a Baywatch babe, but that brought me to where I am and I'm thankful." Angelica is so appreciative that she just reprised her role as Taylor Walsh in the new Baywatch reunion TV movie and has kept in touch with many of her co-stars, including Pamela Anderson. "I've always admired her, and we have something in common in that she dated Markus Schenkenberg about 10 months after I did," she tells us. Now unattached, Angelica claims that she is finished dating models. "I want a real man," she says. "I love men who are a little rugged, and there's that little girl in me who always wants someone to sweep her off her feet."

You might not have heard of the Brooke Sisters, but Angelica once sang with the band in front of 20,000 fans in China. "Armed guards had to walk me out and people were pulling on my hair because they had never seen a redhead before," she tells us. "Now I'm working on my first album--filled with sexy and soulful music--with some European producers." She also designed her own website and answers her (text concluded on page 136) e-mail personally. "No one believes it's me," she says. "I write back, 'Would Angelica be sitting here in her pink panties, bunny slippers, hair in a knot on the top of her head and zit cream from the night before?' Then it dawns on them, 'Oh my God, it is her!"'

Angelica hasn't lost touch with her modest roots in rural Missouri. "I totally believe in Southern hospitality," she says. "Any time a girl like me comes to your house, she brings a bottle of wine, cookies or fresh buttermilk biscuits. I still pinch people's cheeks and say, 'Aren't you just the most darling thing ever?' Or I love spanking people's bottoms when they do something cute or funny, and I say, 'Oh, you're so naughty!' If I ever write a book, it will be called Charmed Life, because being charmed isn't just about amazing things. I have gone through a lot of hard times that were important experiences because they grounded me and helped make me who I am today."

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