While the rest of us celebrate our independence with bottle rockets and potato salad, Nikki Schieler Ziering asserts hers with a return to Playboy. When she reigned as Miss September 1997, Nikki was a newlywed, having tied the knot with Beverly Hills 90210 star Ian Ziering on July 4. Now, as she graces this issue's cover, she's awaiting finalization of the couple's divorce. "Legally, I'm already allowed to date!" she informs us.
Not that she's had much time. When we ask about her role in this summer's American Wedding, the second sequel to the blockbuster comedy American Pie, a mischievous grin lights up Nikki's face. "I had more fun doing that role than anything else," the former dental hygienist says. "I play a dominatrix cop stripper at a wild bachelor party, and I get to push around a bunch of young guys and then spank them. It's a scene everyone is going to remember."
Since gaining Playmate fame, Nikki has been a woman on the move. She served as one of Barker's Beauties on The Price is Right, put Matthew Perry in a headlock in Serving Sara, got her mojo working on Mike Myers for Austin Powers in Goldmember and appeared on TV's V.I.P. and Silk Stalkings. Nikki also braved the jungle as a contestant on the TV reality show I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! "On the show, I learned that I'm a live-in-the-moment kind of person," she says. "And I think I can do anything after going into a crocodile pit. I love girly things-my apartment is very feminine-but I'm not such a princess that I can't get dirt under my nails." Nikki also may have undergone the first transcendental experience on a reality show. "When I got voted off, I walked over a bridge and saw a craft service table and a big champagne celebration. To me, it symbolized death and going through that transition-how it's much better on the other side. Even though you miss the people you left behind, you know they'll be coming soon. On a monitor I saw the other contestants holding up signs that read WE MISS YOU, NIKKI, so it was kind of like watching my own funeral."
When it comes to Nikki's newly single life, rebirth is a more appropriate visualization. "I'm looking for a down-to-earth guy with a sense of humor-a gentleman whose mother taught him old-fashioned manners," she says. "I tend to be attracted to father figures. A man needs to be a little controlling to keep me in line, but he can't be too possessive. I got into martial arts mostly to stay in shape, but I wouldn't recommend trying anything funny on a date with me!"
