Wild Life

When it comes to heat, no woman makes more sparks fly than Brooke Burke

What do you do after you've swum with sharks in Belize? What do you do after you've flown a Russian MiG 17? What do you do after you've donned a Zorro costume and performed a sword dance in Mazatlan? For Brooke Burke, former host of the cable-TV reality phenomenon Wild On, there was only one place to go next: Fantasyland. After three years of televised adventures, Brooke has taken her career to the next level by developing BrookeBurke.com, starring in a new video game, Need for Speed Underground 2, and posing for her second Playboy cover and pictorial. If Wild On was the ultimate in reality TV, Brooke's next moves are the epitome of creative visualization. These days, you're nobody until you star in a video game, and Brooke is pumped about hers, which launches this month. "The technology is amazing," she says. "Users aren't going to see cyber Brooke. It's the real deal. They'll be able to interact with me. I play a character named Rachel. She is a sexy, confident, strong woman who runs the underground street-racing circuit. She helps the user become the number-one street racer. Kids will be able to trick out their cars and kick ass." A self-described car freak, Brooke admits to gussying up one of her real-life rides, her Hummer. "You've got to pimp out a Hummer," she says. "I'm adding bling all over." Cyber world aside, Brooke gets her adrenaline rushes by making people laugh. She has guest-starred on such sitcoms as The Bernie Mac Show and Less Than Perfect. "I've had a chance to do a bit of everything," Brooke says. "Now I know for certain that I really want to do comedy. Doing a sitcom is an immediate goal. I love the feedback and the energy you get from live audiences. Besides, I'd much rather make people laugh than cry."

Brooke's ability to laugh at herself has cemented her standing as much more than a beautiful face in a town flush with pretty faces. Asked about memorable moments from this shoot, Brooke, rather than talk about how great she looks, provides a self-deprecating story: "Did I tell you I fell off the horse? I was trying to ride it not only bareback but naked. My dad used to have a ranch, so I love horses. I'm comfortable around them. But the horse knew something funky was going on. We put a beautiful blanket on him, but I had no traction and no stirrups. The blanket started slipping, and I ended up falling off. You can imagine how funny it is visually to fall off a horse. Naked. There's video footage that I'm sure will haunt me at some point in my life."

While other Hollywood stars would have tossed a diva-size fit after having been thrown off a horse, Brooke stuck to a philosophy she has had since day one: Being nice in this business carries you far. "I've never been a diva," she says. "When I started Wild On, there was no room for attitude. It was a ghetto shoot. If I'd had an attitude, the crew would have left me to be eaten by the crocodiles."

The crew on our set adored Brooke, not only for her upbeat attitude but also for her creative input. "I didn't want to do anything cheesy or sleazy," she says. "I wanted it to be cool and sexy. I collect perfume bottles, and I have these old Moroccan ones we filled with oil. At first I was going to drizzle the oil on my body, but I ended up pouring out the entire bottle. At home, you'd destroy all your bedding. When are you really able to pour oil all over your body? So that was fun and sexy in a playful way."

Last year Brooke made her stage debut in Pieces (of Ass), in which a group of women perform monologues they've written that address what it's like to be a beautiful woman. Brooke's contribution was a letter to her then-three-year-old daughter. "I expressed how important it is to be more than just beautiful," Brooke says. "I'm proud of the things I've done, and I hope my daughters will be also."

Brooke is also proud of her husband, Dr. Garth Fisher, who has become a celebrity in his own right on ABC's Extreme Makeover. While that and other plastic surgery shows have sparked some controversy, Brooke points out the good her husband and the program are doing in the world. "The show is choosing well-deserving people," she says. "There's so much TV about plastic surgery now--good and bad. Garth is making positive changes for a lot of people. The one thing I can say about Extreme Makeover compared with the others is that there are no losers. Everybody wins."

As for surgery, she's pro-choice. "People should have the right to make decisions about their own bodies," she says. "Other people should butt out. I don't think anyone should strive to be the most beautiful person. We all need to do the best with what we have. If surgery is something you feel comfortable with and you come from a healthy place and make an educated decision, more power to you."

And so Brooke continues her life's journey on her own terms--riding horses in the buff, tricking out cars and having a damn fun time all the while. "I have a great husband, a great family and a great career," she says. "I'm comfortable in my skin. Playboy has some of the most beautiful women in its collection, so to do this again is a total honor. I really feel I'm coming into my own. I'm a woman now."

"I'm into eyes. They're what I'm drawn to in other people. They're the most vulnerable part of the body, and the strongest, too."