The real reason we don't hear from Carmen Electra anymore

She's got a bad boy taking up her time

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One of the reasons you won't spot Electra out at the clubs or dancing on table tops is because she may have her own Fifty Shades of Grey thing going on at home. The '90s femme fatale told People in the spring of 2016 that she has a new man in her life, and she described this mystery guy as a bad boy. "I still like the bad boys," she quipped. "That's not going to change… I'm very happy with my current situation." As for how long they've been romantically involved, Electra says it's a work in progress. "Taking things slowly—very slowly. Yeah, I've been single now for a while, and that was really fun. I met someone that I'm really interested in, so we're taking it slow."

Electra also explained she's got a particular type and why it works for her. "This is what I've learned over the years: my attraction to bad boys has to do with their life experiences," she said. "They've had lows, and they've gone through hard times, so in order to get past that, they've had to do a lot of work. So usually there's a different kind of intelligence that goes along with that, and awareness—spirituality. And I have to be with someone that's very intelligent, someone that I'm going to learn from." We're dying to learn this mystery man's name.

Her music career is mediocre

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Electra launched her music career in 1993 with a self-titled album. Fast forward 20 years: she released a catchy dance single called "I Like It Loud" in 2013 that reached no. 24 on the Billboard dance club songs chart, followed that up in 2014 with "Werq," and kept the party anthems coming in 2015 with "Around the World." Despite all three tunes breaking into the top 25 on the charts, her marginal success failed to translate into widespread pop appeal.

But Electra's talents shouldn't be counted out just yet. She's got music running through her veins. According to The Huffington Post, her father played guitar, uncle played drums, and mom sang background for funk singer Bootsy Collin. Electra has been candid about her desire to jump-start a music career, telling The Grid (via the Daily Mail), "I've been wanting to get back to music for quite some time now. It's been a passion of mine since before I started to work with Prince back in the '90s, but my life and career just happened to take a different path."

She's mourning the loss of Prince

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Few people got to know Prince as intimately as Electra. They met when she was 18, and it was Prince who reportedly coined her powerful stage name, reported Us Weekly. When he passed away in April 2016, Electra was understandably saddened. Like many, she has taken some time to mourn the loss of a great friend and advisor.

The pair worked together in the early '90s and even dated for a period of time. "I was so shocked and heartbroken to hear about the loss of my mentor, Prince," Electra said in a statement (via People). "The world has lost a truly incredible spirit and musical genius. What a blessing it is to be one of the chosen ones who had the chance to work so closely with him. He gave me my name, he believed in me, and he has inspired an entire generation. I will always love him…'Sometimes it Snows in April.'"

As the story goes, the former couple met when Prince was forming a girl band. Although Electra didn't make the final cut, he gave her the opportunity to launch her career in the entertainment industry. Prince reportedly even penned a song for her called "Carmen on Top." Speaking to Us Weekly in May 2016, she said, "As an artist and as a person Prince was so extraordinarily generous. It was very generous for him to give me the chance to start a music career. And I'll always be grateful that he believed in me and took a chance on me."

She's terribly insecure

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Despite having a varied career across television, film, music, and more, Electra is reportedly an insecure person, particularly when it comes to her recording career. "I'm probably my worst enemy," she told The Huffington Post. "I look at someone like Beyonce and you wouldn't think she would ever have struggles, but I watched her documentary and here's this super-powerful woman who is brilliantly-talented with the world at her feet and she still has struggles. That was comforting to me throughout this process of getting back into music. At first it was very challenging, but I have such a passion for music and dance that I want to work hard and push through the challenges."

Electra claims to have grown a thicker skin over the years. "There are many ups and downs in this business but I've learned to appreciate everything and not be as sensitive," she said. "Obviously there are times when you read something about yourself and it affects you. It's even harder when things aren't true. But I believe what I read! I pick up a tabloid and even knowing things are exaggerated, I still believe it, so I understand why other people do."

The constant battle between one's personal identity and public persona has driven many a celeb far way from the spotlight, and it seems Electra may not be cut out to contend with the unruly attitudes of today's social media landscape.

She did a reality dating show

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While attempts to re-launch her music career have stalled, in early 2016 Electra put herself out there as the host of a WE tv series entitled "Ex Isle." According to Deadline, the premise of the show is to help on-again, off-again couples decide if they want to make their relationships work or take a chance at new love, all while stuck on an island, of course. Electra joins forces with Dr. Ish Major to help these troubled pairs figure out what's best for their love lives.

WE tv reportedly ordered 10 episodes and, at the time of this writing, had not made any formal announcements about a second season. We can't help but think that if another season was in the works, Electra would be promoting it by now. This could very well become another notch in Electra's lengthy list of projects that crashed and burned shortly after liftoff.

She's been reduced to Super Bowl ads

In 2014, Electra lent her hot body to Volkswagen for a unique Super Bowl commercial. The parody attempts to figure out what makes the best Super Bowl ad. Two German scientists work out a formula that encompasses just about everything commercials are made of these days: babies, puppies, twerking, break dancing, confetti, shots to the groin, and, of course, a super hot girl (Electra) tossing her hair. Unfortunately, the formula combines too much of a good thing and quickly leads to total chaos.

If you're going to appear in a commercial, the Super Bowl is the place to do it, but this spot didn't sell Electra's career any more than her previous Super Bowl appearance in a 2008 Ice Breakers gum commercial.

She's still defined by her failed romances

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Many years have passed since Electra's brief marriage to former NBA star Dennis Rodman, but she's still embarrassed by the mistake. The pair eloped to Las Vegas in 1998, shortly after her mother passed away, but the dynamic duo split about a year later. The entire debacle played out in the tabloids.

"I just went into self-destruction," Electra told Oprah Winfrey's Where Are They Now? series in 2014. "Dennis was the life of the party. He was fun. I started drinking. People couldn't understand why I loved him. Because he had a reputation of for being a bad boy. What I saw in the beginning was this sort of gentle giant." Electra said it didn't take long to realize she'd made a mistake. "It happened so fast. It was so spontaneous, and I remember right after, 'Oh God, what did we do?'" She added, "Our relationship was very passionate. So, when it was good, it was amazing. When it was bad, it was the worst."

Another romantic sore spot for Electra: Simon Cowell. As the story goes, the pair briefly dated in 2013 until Electra caught the American Idol mastermind allegedly cheating on her with Lauren Silverman. "Carmen was at Simon's house in L.A. when she literally busted him with Lauren," a spy told E! News. "Simon called her a friend, but there was nothing platonic about what was going on, if you know what I mean." Electra nixed that relationship pretty quickly. She "high-tailed it out of there," the insider said. "There was no way she was going to stick around and be the third wheel." Despite the drama, Electra kept the fallout professional. After hearing the pair was having a baby at the 2013 Do Something Awards, she offered up an "I'm so happy for him!"

She doesn't make movies anymore

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There was a time when Electra was in demand on the small screen and the big screen, but at the time of this writing, her IMDb account is a blueprint for fading star power. In 2014, she reportedly landed a total of four ho-hum projects: guest appearances in The Birthday Boys and Franklin & Bash, the role of Lexus in a movie called Lap Dance, and a gig in the a short titled Dragula. Need we say more? Okay, let's try 2015, when she appeared in a little-known flick called Book of Fire and the box office blunder Chocolate City. That's two jobs. Electra's 2016 was even worse. Her only scripted TV series appearance was playing herself in a single episode of Jane the Virgin. This shrinking list of credits is not the stuff comebacks are made of.

She tried selling a signature fragrance

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In 2015, she launched a namesake fragrance with fruity and floral notes. "Creating my own signature scent is something I've always wanted to do," she told FragranceNet.com. "I was given the opportunity to be part of the process from the ground up; everything that went into it, including the design of the bottle. I feel grateful to have the opportunity to be creative and express myself in a way I have never done before. It was also a wonderful learning experience." She claims to have been inspired by "the magic that links scents with memory and emotions." Okay, that's cool, but in a market saturated with celebrities selling scents, Electra has a long way to go before she competes with the likes of Elizabeth Taylor's White Diamonds.

Then she tried selling skin cream

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After launching her fragrance, Electra tried hawking anti-aging products. She became the spokesperson for SkinCeuticals Skin Firming Cream. "I tried many other products in the past, but they usually left my skin way too dry or too oily. I use it on my face every day before I apply makeup, and after I wash my face with SkinCeuticals Purifying Cleanser, which I'm also obsessed with," she told People, sounding like a bad infomercial. "I highly recommend this cream if you are looking for something to enhance, hydrate, and improve the health and appearance of your skin!"

The she tried selling water...sorta

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In January 2016, Electra scored some sophisticated press when she was asked to detail her daily diet and beauty regimen for New York magazine. She said the key to her glowing skin wasn't makeup (So not the aforementioned skin cream?), but water. "I made it a rule that I have to drink two bottles of water before I start my day," she said, noting that she tries to stay away from soda and doesn't workout every day. When asked what wellness meant to her, she said it's a "lifestyle," adding, "I can't say that I'm 100 percent perfect. My doctors always tell me that I have vitamin deficiencies. It's hard to be consistent with taking vitamins, that's the honest truth. Wellness is about finding your balance, it's not what someone tells you."

Ideally, Electra would have forayed that high-profile press into additional health and wellness opportunities: a blog, guest appearances, an Evian commercial—anything. Maybe she tried, but that great publicity at the start of the new year faded like a midnight resolution.

How she can turn it around

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Electra will celebrate her 45th birthday in 2017, and though she doesn't have any buzz-worthy projects in the works at the time of this writing, her diverse history certainly demonstrates that she has the industry chops and the name recognition (kudos to Prince) to turn things around. Perhaps Electra could court some high-profile hosting gigs or a podcast (think: Jenny McCarthy's New Year's gigs with Ryan Seacrest.) Additionally, as the Baywatch movie breaks ashore in 2017, Electra should try to catch a wave and capitalize on residual publicity. She'll want to keep her social media platforms humming and continue working those fit-at-any-age business opportunities. If she does, we're willing to bet someone in Hollywood will toss her a lifesaver. Here's hoping they do.