Vituko Mitaani

Nicole Eggert is like a real-life Lifetime heroine. She is hot -- she credits diet and rising above the "bulls---" misconceptions about weight loss. She's strong -- she got back on the "Splash" diving board despite an injury. And she is strongly opinionated about her hot male co-stars -- including former real-life flame, Scott Baio of "Charles in Charge."

Don't worry. She says he's a good ex, not the psycho kind you see in Lifetime movies.
But first about that "Splash" injury…
Is a back flop as painful as it sounds?
It was way more painful than it looks but not as crazy as everybody makes it sound. There are different factors. When people finally see it happen, I'm sure it won't look that bad. But if you understand the degree of how high I was, you have more comprehension of the damage I did. And then there's the whole thing of -- it could have been so much worse. It wasn't a bad flop. I did land my dive. My legs just weren't as strong as they could have been. When you hit the water going that fast, from that high up, it makes the rest of the body flop. It wasn't like I was going full steam and landed flat on my back.
So, you didn't go to the hospital right away?
I did not go to the hospital right away. I've broken my back before and this time there was a lot of swelling, but I felt like I could hold myself upright and I was fine. But the next day I went in the evening. I saw a doctor, and then a couple days later I saw another doctor. I just wanted to keep making sure that everything was intact, in the skeletal way. And then I wanted to make sure the organs were OK. It took a couple of visits between the swelling and the bruising to see what was going on.

Who took the photos of your bruised back that's online?
Unfortunately, I posted it [on Twitter] myself for a few minutes because I thought it was funny. I wanted to share with people. I was getting so many emails and messages and tweets. Everybody wanted to know, and I wanted to share with people: Yeah I'm cool, here's the damage. I had it up for like a half an hour. And at some point in that half-hour they grabbed it. I'm not blaming the person that took the picture, because they took it on my phone. I probably shouldn't have posted it. I had to email it out for medical reasons and keep sharing it, and somehow somewhere it got leaked and whatever. It is what it is.

Did you have a moment after the back flop where you wanted to give up and not get back up on the diving board?
No. No. You know, that's why I signed on to do the show in the first place. I'm kind of an adrenaline junkie. I really like doing that kind of stuff. I've always been into gymnastics. I love every minute of it.

What do you say to the people who want the show canceled because of the injuries?
I've been asked over and over again if this show is too dangerous for people. And I'm like well wait a minute. Is the sport too dangerous for people? It's a sport! It's been a sport for a very long time. It all depends on the individual. Are you down for it? Do you want to do it? If you don't want to do it or you don't think you're capable of doing it, I highly suggest you don't do it. If you're into that kind of thing, for sure, why not? To me it's amazing; you're being trained by the best of the best.

Is it true that the "Splash" pool is where you practiced for "Baywatch"?
This is the same pool where we did a lot of training for "Baywatch." I used to be shot up on that 10 meter spot. They would shoot the close-up of me on the 10 meter, and then they would shoot the close-up of me coming out of the water, and then some amazing diver would do all the in-between tricks. So, for me, it was a little bit full circle that I came back, and of course the same pool where I have to do this is where I got off easy.
If that pool could talk, what would it have to say about the "Baywatch" bunch?
Well, it would tell you who was strong and who was weak. There was a lot of resistance training. It's a very deep pool, 17 to 19 feet deep. It's really hard to get to the bottom by yourself. We used to have to dive down and pick up these bags of rocks to see who could get to the bottom and who could pick up the rocks and see who could bring them back up to the surface. It was endurance testing for deep-sea diving where we'd go out on a barge and be thrown into the water.

Did you ever beat the Hoff?
(Laughs) I'm not sure Haselhoff had to take the test. I think he always had a double on hand if he didn't feel like doing it. But I will tell you that I ended up in the water a lot due to my test results. I'm a beach girl.

And you look fantastic. Is that from diving or dieting?
It's a combination. Having a baby that late in my life when my hormones were already off course threw everything off. Once I met a doctor who got my hormone levels back to normal, then the exercise and diet started paying off. I started working with a diet program, which you'll hear about soon enough. Everything suddenly came together. Women are told it's calorie intake versus calorie burn, and that's such bulls---. A lot of it has to do with our chemistry. We are chemistry labs. It's so frickin' true, and a lot of doctors don't know how to read your levels. They don't do it right.
I knew there was something wrong with me. I was eating properly on the strictest diet you could ever be on and working with the best people in the world, and I was getting fatter and fatter or staying the same. Nothing was helping. I knew there was something wrong. I just knew it and I kept meeting with doctors and doctors, and I finally found one who got it. And once he got me leveled out and got my body chemistry on point, then it started happening, results from diet and exercise.

You've done sweet Lifetime holiday movies, but on LMN's "Past Lies" your character has to deal with her sordid, criminal past when an ex comes knocking. What appealed to you about this role?
I like to mix it up. I would never want to do the same kind of movie over and over. And I love this role, because it's this woman who wants to have the ultimate soccer mom housewife life, but she has a bit of a sordid past. I think most of us can relate to that. I like that when she was young she made some bad decisions. She wanted to make things right, and then her past comes back to haunt her.

Did you do your own stunts? In the preview it looks like you're on a zipline.
(Laughs) Yes, I guess when you're a criminal, it's still called a zipline. Sounds about right. But I think zipline and I think fun, nature, outdoors.

Which reunion would get you most psyched about: "Charles in Charge" or "Baywatch"?
I would love a "Charles in Charge" reunion. I see an Old Navy commercial with us, something like that. "Baywatch" would be great, but it's such a large cast over so many years. People were interchangeable. "Charles" had solid characters and a solid family.

So this means your ex Scott Baio is not a psycho ex.
No. He's not.
Maybe you could guest star on his Nick at Nite show?
Totally. I would love to work with him. There are a lot of weird, strange rumors about things that went on between us, but we became really good friends and everything is way more innocent than it was made out to be. We definitely had a fun time, and he definitely was a big part of my growing up, and I think the other two kids from the show would say the same thing. I would love to work with him again, and I'm friends with his wife. And yeah, totally it would be so much fun.