Inside Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman’s 9-Day Marriage
In the ’90s, a host of iconic couples ruled the tabloid headlines. From Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee to Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt, celebs gave fans and critics a lot to talk about. One of the most fascinating celebrity relationships in the late ’90s was Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman.
Although their union was incredibly short-lived, lasting a grand total of nine days, fans still can’t get enough of the two – and to this day, people still talk about their marriage, dissecting the reasons why it crashed and burned so quickly.
When did Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman get married?
The story of Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman began in 1998 when the two stars met at a nightclub in Los Angeles. According to The Things, Rodman and Electra bonded immediately, with the basketball pro wooing Electra by calling her frequently and taking her on spontaneous dates. On November 14, 1998, Electra and Rodman shocked the world when they got married in Las Vegas, at the famed Chapel of the Flowers.
The wedding might have made headlines, but it would ultimately prove to be unsuccessful. After just nine days, Rodman filed for an annulment, noting that he had not been of sound mind on the night that the two got married. Popsugar notes that by March 1999, the two had filed for divorce.
From the beginning, Electra and Rodman’s relationship might have been doomed, considering that Electra was still dealing with a significant personal tragedy when her relationship with Rodman started. Popsugar reports that Electra lost her mother and her sister within two weeks of each other in August 1998, just a couple of months before she married Rodman.
Carmen Electra remarried after her divorce from Dennis Rodman
By late 1999, Electra and Rodman’s marriage was just a blip in the nation’s consciousness. Carmen Electra moved on to marry Dave Navarro in 2003. Their romance lasted four years before they divorced in 2007. After her split from Navarro, Electra entered into a long-term relationship with musician Rob Patterson. They ended up splitting in 2012.
These days, Electra, who is well known as a popular model and media personality, doesn’t look back on her relationship with Rodman with any negative feelings. As she revealed in a 2020 interview with The Los Angeles Times,
“I have no regrets at all. I saw all these different sides of Dennis. He would always say, ‘No one understands me. No one gets me.’ He was very emotional at times. Then there was the sweet romantic side and the fun, eccentric guy who loved to go out and drink and wear feathered boas.”
Dennis Rodman has been married three times
Basketball pro Dennis Rodman had already been married once by the time he tied the knot with Carmen Electra. He married his first wife, Annie Bakes, in September 1992. They were married for only 82 days before they divorced, according to Popsugar. Rodman would later claim that his marriage to Bakes failed because he was “out of balance” and too involved with his basketball career.
Rodman’s third marriage was to Michelle Moyer. The two started dating in 1999 and got married in 2003. By that time, they had several children together. Moyer filed for divorce in 2004 – they decided to reconcile, calling off the divorce and remaining together until 2012 when they separated for good. These days, Rodman is remaining focused on his children and his sobriety. In the grand scheme of ’90s pop culture, however, his short-lived marriage to Electra remains a supremely interesting tidbit.
