Welcome back to the beaches of Bay watch!

The popular ’90s TV series followed a team of lifeguards as they rescued swimmers and managed their personal relationships, but Bay watch became especially famous for the swimwear the actors wore: cleavage-baring, high-cut red swimsuits for the women and bare abs for the men.

“People watched it because of the sexy bodies, the slow-motion running,” Carmen Electra, who played Lani McKenzie on the show’s eighth season, tells PEOPLE. “These guys were hot, they were muscular, they were wearing Speedos. It just wasn’t about us girls. We were like, ‘See? Everything is equal here. Pants off!'”

Now, thirty years later, Nicole Eggert, who played Summer Quinn on the series for two seasons when she was 18, has tracked down more than 35 cast members to reflect on their Bay watch days in a project she co-produced with Matt Felker, After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun (now streaming on Hulu).

Below are the biggest revelations from the new docuseries.

At its peak, Bay watch attracted more than 1 billion viewers

Bay watch was a phenomenon during the show’s 11-season run from 1989 to 2001 — so much so that co-creator Douglas Schwartz revealed it had 1.2 billion viewers per week.

“That was the highest viewership of any program ever in the history of television,” he says.

“The global reach Bay watch “I had — and still has — is just mind-blowing,” former star David Chokachi tells PEOPLE. “I’ve been to some very remote places in the world, and I get recognized from my time on Bay watch.”

Both the cast and the creators were honest about the quality of the scripts

Over the years, the plots became more absurd, but fans were not deterred. Professional surfer Kelly Slater, who appeared on the show, recalled an episode in which an octopus stole surfboards and held them hostage.

“I found the writing nonsensical in so many ways,” he says.

Co-creator Douglas Schwartz adds: “We were the butt of jokes on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno “All that time, and every time he made a joke, our ratings went up.”

Star David Hasselhoff, who played the handsome Lt. Mitch Buchannon, perhaps summed up the phenomenon best: “The show really sucked,” he admits in the docuseries. “But we made it good because we had passion.”

Tommy Lee didn’t want his then-wife Pamela Anderson to kiss her co-star David Chokachi

The docuseries also features archive footage of Pamela Anderson (who played CJ Parker). In one clip, she says she can remember where she was when she realized she was famous.

“We went to London to promote Bay watch and photographers fell backwards and down the stairs and I looked back and thought, ‘Who are they photographing?’ And it literally hit you that it was you,” she says.

Anderson married Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee in 1995. The relationship between the two was at times downright stormy.

“It made her life complicated. It made our lives complicated,” says co-creator Michael Berk, who recalls a time when a frustrated Lee “destroyed” Anderson’s trailer while she was shooting a scene with Chokachi.

In another instance, he recalls Anderson begging him to change the script. “Pam came to me one day and said, ‘Please rewrite this scene where I have to kiss David Chokachi. Tommy is just feeling really insecure right now and it’s not a good time.'”

Michael Douglas shares a similar memory. “We always had problems with Tommy Lee being jealous of Pam’s relationships with other actors on the show,” he says.

Chokachi considered his relationship with Anderson to be that of a “brother-sister,” but that didn’t mean Lee agreed.

“Tommy Lee took our scenes when we were boyfriend and girlfriend literally,” Chokachi says. “I felt sorry for (Pam) because she was under a lot of pressure.”

The actors were paid approximately $3,500 per episode

Despite being a hugely popular show, the cast didn’t make the big bucks. Eggert says they were paid “about $3,500” per show.Friends “At that point, I think they were each making $1 million an episode,” Eggert says.

Erika Eleniak adds: “I remember being completely freaked out when I saw my first paycheck after taxes were taken out. How am I honestly going to live on this money?”

“There is no rich actor on Bay watch“None,” says Billy Warlock, who played lifeguard Eddie Kramer for two seasons.

Alexandra Paul Pretended to Date Jason Simmons to Help Him Hide His Sexuality

Jaason Simmons played Australian lifeguard Logan Fowler.

“His character was always trying to seduce women, and he did it really well,” says Alexandra Paul, Simmons’ close friend and co-star.

The problem was that Simmons had not publicly come out as gay at the time, and outing gay actors “was like a paparazzi sport,” Felker explains. “They were chasing (Simmons) like an animal.”

To divert attention, Paul and Simmons pretended to be a couple.

“He’s one of my best friends on the show, so it was a secret that we kept,” Paul says. “It was so dangerous for a man to come out, especially if you’re a handsome lead, because producers wouldn’t hire you to be a straight guy who gets girls, and that was the character he played.”

She adds: ‘There are pictures of him and me in the National Enquirer holding hands and kissing because he needed a beard. We did a photoshoot of both of us naked that appeared on the cover of a British newspaper. We wanted to make sure he was protected.”

Nicole Eggert says she has “no regrets” after being diagnosed with breast cancer

The actress revealed that she was diagnosed with stage 2 breast cancer in early December 2023. Now, she says she’s “just trying to stay positive every day.”

“I’m on a wild roller coaster ride. There’s ups and downs, and I just try to wake up every day feeling positive and ready to take on whatever comes my way, to be honest,” she tells PEOPLE.

Working on the docuseries over the past five years has also proven to be very healing for the former actress, especially as she has struggled with her breast cancer diagnosis for the past eight months.

“Having a young daughter and having this project has been a great motivation for me to not just sit there and think about my health and well-being. It gives me a purpose,” says Eggert, who is mother to Keegan, 13, and adult daughter Dilyn, 25. “It keeps me motivated every day. I think the timing of life always happens for a reason. It’s been a great distraction and my daughters have kept me on my toes.”

Eggerts history with Bay watch dates back to 1992, when she appeared on the show at the age of 18. She remained on the show for two seasons.

Looking back on her time on the series, Eggert now says, “I quit Bay watch. (But) running away from things doesn’t make them go away. When I was younger, I kind of ran away from it,” she admits, “but at the same time, I don’t regret it. I don’t believe in it.”

Jeremy Jackson struggled with addiction during his time on the show

Jackson, who played the son of Hasselhoff’s character on the show, details his addiction to crystal meth in the docuseries, recalling an interaction he had with Hasselhoff on set.

“I remember David saying, ‘Are you smoking weed or something?’ And I thought, Jesus, do they think I smoke weed? I could never tell them the truth. What would they think?” Jackson recalled.

“If you haven’t slept for five days and you’ve been smoking crystal meth, the worst thing that can happen is someone looks you in the eye and says, ‘Man, are you okay?’”

Jackson also served a prison sentence in 2017 for his involvement in an alleged stabbing.

“I was definitely going downhill. My life was slipping through my hands like sand… Would I do it all again?” Jackson wonders about his life choices on the show. “Probably not.”

Still, the former child star tells PEOPLE he’s grateful to be where he is today.

“It’s not about morals, perseverance or personal character and virtue, but I am in remission from the chronic, fatal and progressive disease that I once struggled with, thanks to God,” he says.

Mike Newman has been living with Parkinson’s disease for 18 years

Newman, the cast’s only lifeguard, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s at age 50. He previously told PEOPLE that “all those things you thought you were going to do with your kids and grandkids, pictures we were going to take, all the plans I had … stopped.”

After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun highlights Newman’s new normal and what it’s been like for him to live with the disease for the past 18 years. He takes 10 medications a day and says he often wakes up “nervous” in the morning.

“I cherish the days that I get to be on this earth with family and friends. I take life seriously,” the now 68-year-old tells PEOPLE, before sharing the words he lives by: “‘It’s not a walkthrough.'”

“I hope this documentary sheds light on the heroism of the rescue profession and creates respect for the global community of men and women who consider it an honor to risk their lives every day to save others,” he adds.

Newman also realizes the importance of being candid about his experiences with one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases (the most common after Alzheimer’s, according to the Parkinson’s Foundation).

“I also hope that my personal story will make people aware of the importance of finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease,” he says.

After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun is now streaming on Hulu.