The red swimsuits, the team of talented and undeniably beautiful lifeguards, and the drama: it’s not hard to understand why the series Baywatch was a gigantic success. The show lasted 11 seasons, after first airing in 1989, and the last episode aired in May 2001. Jeremy Jackson played the role of Hobie Buchannon, the son of series lead David Hasselhoff’s character, Mitch Buchannon. Fans of the show likely haven’t thought about Jackson in years, but he recently took a trip down memory lane, and his comments have created outrage and disgust.
Jackson grew up onscreen, taking on the role of Hobi when he was ten. At 19, he bid farewell to his character. “If you’re a kid — in life, right? — you just want to be cool, you want to hang out with the cool people, you want to be grown up way before you’re grown up, and that’s how Baywatch was for me,” Jackson said on the Hulu docuseries, After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun, earlier this week. OK, sounds normal, right? And then he made a comment that we wished we could unhear.
“There was all these hot chicks, and I would usually sneak in their trailers after they were done and grab their dirty bathing suits. Let’s just say I’ve smelled every p**** on Baywatch,” he confessed. What the heck?! Later, the actor commented on how he was experiencing puberty on the show, which had its challenges, as he claimed, “I was too young to hook up with the chicks, but old enough to want to.”
In the docuseries, he also admitted to having a crush on actress Nicole Eggert. He said, “Nicole was the big one, for sure. We had a very intimate moment, her and I, that she never knew about.” Again, what?
Nicole Eggert reacts to what Jeremy Jackson said about her
Nicol Eggert reacted to the actor’s comments, and, surprisingly, she was not enraged by what he said. She even gave a little laugh!
“I know Jeremy very well,” she admitted, per Entertainment Weekly. “This surprises me not at all. There’s nothing Jeremy could say that would freak me out. And I’m not even mad at 14-year-old Jeremy. I mean, puberty on a show like that? I love grown-up Jeremy for being honest about 14-year-old Jeremy.”
She appeared to echo these statements in an interview with TMZ, saying, “You know, it’s the truth … it’s hilarious, and I know people were shocked by it, but I’m sure men at that adolescent age … I’m sure all of us have done at an adolescent age have done some different things.” She continued, “I just love it because I love him for his honesty and sharing it with us.”
The video’s comment section praises Eggert for her handling of the question. However, not everyone is as understanding or willing to brush off Jackson’s remarks. “He also would hide any watch them undress he told Howard stern,” a comment reads. “Ok but that’s weird asf,” another TikToker shared. Other reactions to the video include, “wtf,” “Creepy not funny,” “I will never understand men sniffing dirty knickers,” and “ICK.”
And some people didn’t hold back! “That is creepy. No one’s items should be sniffed/touch etc Dude is pervy regardless of his age at the time,” a fan wrote. “Y’all let bs get bigger by shrugging it off. Call it what it is – disturbing.”