Photo:Isaac Brekken/Getty
Isaac Brekken/Getty
Kendra Wilkinsonand Hank Baskett faced various ups and downs in their marriage.
The formerPlayboymodel was married to the former football wide receiver from 2009 to 2018. The couple split followingcheating allegations against Baskettand atumultuousnine years of marriage. During their time together, they welcomed two kids in 2009 and 2014.
In August 2022, Baskett acknowledgedto PEOPLE that he “messed up"and regretted bringing “pain upon this family” — and in January 2024, Wilkinson told PEOPLE that shedoes not hold any grudgesagainst her ex-husband and that they are “lucky” to have each other.
“A lot of people cheat — a lot of people have affairs and it’s not a good thing to do, but it’s something I forgive,” she said. “I forgive, and he deserves it. He’s the most amazing human and he’s better than that. Hank is an amazing father, an amazing co-parent, and he deserves all good things, and that’s how I actually feel.”
Wilkinson and Baskettagreed to split custodyof their children after their2019 divorce, which the mom-of-two said was difficult for her at first. However, she values her relationship with her children and prioritizes spending time with them.
As for where Wilkinson stands on a future relationship, she told PEOPLE that she doesn’t see marriage “in the cards” anytime soon, but would like to “start to have fun” again. “I can’t go back in time and rewire history, but I’m here to move forward in my life and upward,” she added. “And live a good life. That’s what I’m here for.”
Read on for what to know about Kendra Wilkinson’s ex-husband, Hank Baskett.
He is a former NFL player
Hank Baskett of the Philadelphia Eagles in December 2007.Drew Hallowell/Getty
Drew Hallowell/Getty
Hank Baskett is from Clovis, New Mexico, and played college football for the University of New Mexico.
In 2006, the athlete signed with the Minnesota Vikings as a rookie undrafted free agent before being traded to the Philadelphia Eagles. In September 2009, he signed a one-year contract with the Indianapolis Colts.
He married Kendra Wilkinson in 2009
Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett in June 2017.Isaac Brekken/Getty
Wilkinson and Basketttied the knotat the Playboy Mansion in June 2009. Among the guests in attendance was Hugh Hefner, who the former NFL player said “is like a father to [Wilkinson].”
Their romance was showcased on WE tv’sKendra on Top, which ran from 2012 to 2017. Though the couple ultimately divorced nine years later, Wilkinson has opened up about the respect she still has for him despite their past.
“We both are not perfect humans,” shetold PEOPLE of Baskettin November 2021. “Maybe we were just too young. And that’s okay. I still love Hank. He’s such a good person. But sometimes it just comes to an end.”
“Hank is an amazing person, and I’m so lucky to have been married to him,” she said. “He is the greatest father. And to be honest, it’s going to be hard to find another man like him because the bar was set so high.”
He and Kendra Wilkinson faced various troubles in their marriage
Hank Baskett and Kendra Wilkinson arrive at the Maxim Super Bowl Party in February 2017.John Parra/Getty
John Parra/Getty
In 2014, the couple made headlines after news broke that Baskett hadan affairwhile his wife, Wilkinson, was eight months pregnant.
One year later, the pair opened up to PEOPLE exclusively aboutwhat happenedand how they’ve handled their relationship since. “I messed up,” Baskett said at the time. “I put myself in a bad situation. And everything through me brought pain upon this family.”
He admitted, “I didn’t engage in anything… It was like a bank robbery. You never know when you’ll freeze. I don’t know if it was a couple of seconds or 15 seconds, because all I was saying was get out, get out, get out.”
When Wilkinson first learned of the news, she says she “went ballistic.” But when Baskett ultimately worked up the courage to be honest, she was understanding and sympathetic.
“Hank was very naïve and gullible,” Wilkinson told PEOPLE at the time. “He thinks everybody is his friend. That led him to the hell that we’ve lived.”
“I don’t say the word ‘cheat.’ I can say he was not loyal to me,” Wilkinson said of the scandal.
He and Kendra Wilkinson divorced in 2019
After nearly one decade of marriage, theGirls Next Doorstar filed for divorce from the former football player in April 2018.
The same day she filed,Baskett respondedwith his filing and mirrored her documents. Both cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for their split, listed their date of separation as Jan. 1, 2018, and requested joint legal and physical custody of their two children. In 2019, Wilkinson and Baskett’sdivorce was finalized.
Since then, Wilkinson has opened up about her divorce and howshe felt “so lost"in the wake of their split, which coincided with the end of her decade-long run on television. She said it “triggered” her depression when speaking on PodcastOne’sOn Display with Melissa Gorgain August 2022.
Though Wilkinson has been open about how difficult that time in her life has been, since then, she and Baskett have been able to find a way to continue to support each other. In January 2024, she told PEOPLE that Baskett sat with her in the emergency room when she experienced amental health crisisin September 2023.
“He doesn’t owe me anything,” she says, adding, “To accept help that day and for him to accept to drive me to the hospital was a huge day in both of our lives, I think. And yeah, he did say he was proud of me. He did. That’s all I care about.”
He and Kendra Wilkinson co-parent their two kids
Kendra Wilkinson and Hank Baskett with their kids, in February 2018.Ari Perilstein/Getty
Wilkinson and Baskett sharetwo kidstogether, son Hank Randall Baskett IV and daughter Alijah Mary Baskett. Theyagreed to split joint legal and physical custodyafter their2019 divorce.
The pair’s first child, Hank, was born on Dec. 11, 2009, in Indiana, where his father played for the Indianapolis Colts. Their daughter, Alijah, was born on May 16, 2014, in Los Angeles.
Wilkinson said that co-parenting with Baskett was “a rough start"for her at first, but she’s also said she feels lucky to have good relationships with Hank IV and Alijah despite the initial struggles.
“I couldn’t have asked for better kids,” she saidin a 2021 episodeofKendra Sells Hollywood. “I mean, when it comes to parenting and when it comes to my bonding with them, so sacred and so powerful. If there’s one part of my life I’m doing right, it’s them.”
Baskett has posted many family photos with his children on social media, sharing fun moments they have shared. In 2019, he evendressed up as their school’s mascot!
Most recently, Wilkinson has said that they are now co-parenting “really well.”
“The kids are so lucky to have him [Baskett],” she told PEOPLE in January 2024. “I’m lucky to have him. So the thing about it is, you just have to look at what you do have — what are the things you do have and be grateful for those things. And even if it’s a couple of things, just nurture it, be good to it.”
He’s involved in the online gaming space
When his NFL career ended, Baskett transitioned his love for games from the field to the screen.
“I’ve just always been a gamer,” Baskett toldTech Radarin October 2022. “I was a gamer, then a professional athlete, then a gamer, then a gamer in the entertainment industry. Now that I’m done with all those, I’m a gamer in the gaming industry. The passion I have for PC gaming just comes from my passion for gaming.”
Baskett often shares gaming-related posts to hisInstagram. He also initiates game controller giveaways and headsets, among other gaming packages.
source: people.com
