How tragic Loni Willison went from swimsuit model to homeless meth addict eating from bins after Baywatch star ‘attack'

SHE’S a former swimsuit model who was living the Hollywood dream after marrying Baywatch star Jeremy Jackson.

But just seven years after the couple split, Loni Willison is living on the streets and, this week, was seen foraging for pizza in an LA dumpster.

The pictures show the model's tragic rapid slide into drug and alcohol addiction after losing her job and her home, and shunning offers of help.

The 37-year-old, once a glamorous regular on the red carpet with her former husband, now carries all her possessions in one bag, sleeps under a shopping trolley and scavenges food from bins.

Heartbreakingly, she once claimed she makes herself look as dirty as possible to avoid being sexually abused on the street.

Last year she told The Sun: "I can live on my own. I've got everything I need right here. Nobody really cares about me and I don’t want to see them, they don’t want to see me."

So how did a celebrated cover girl become a homeless dumpster diver?


Drunken rows and alleged attack

When Loni and Jeremy tied the knot on a Californian beach in 2012, dressed in white and flanked by their snow white dog, the duo looked the like the ultimate Hollywood couple.

Californian Jeremy had found fame asHobie Buchanan, the son of David Hasselhoff's lifeguard Mitch, at the age of 11 and played the role until he was 18, leaving in 1999.

Loni, also from California, was the stunning model who graced the cover of fitness magazines in skimpy sportswear and swimsuits.

Rounds of red carpet appearances followed and they appeared to be madly in love.

But Jeremy, a former child star, already had a history of drug addiction, which had begun during his time as a teenager on Baywatch.

He had been arrested for manufacturing methamphetamine, at 19, had spent 90 days in jail for possession and completed five stints in rehab.

While they looked the perfect couple from the outside, the picture behind closed doors was less than rosy.

The marriage descended into booze-fuelled arguments and, in August 2014, police were called to their home after Jeremy allegedly attacked Loni.


She later claimed he strangled and beat her, leaving her with two broken ribs, an injured neck and scratches on her face and body but she decided not to press charges.

The pair split straight after the alleged attack, which she revealed only after her ex entered the Celebrity Big Brother house a year later, in 2015.

But it signalled the start of Loni’s mental health problems and downward spiral.

“It took me over two months to recover properly,” she said.

“I ended up having to quit my job as an assistant to a plastic surgeon and I couldn't work out or take on any modelling jobs.

“I didn't go out with friends or do anything – I was in a very bad place.”

Claims of 'torture by electrocution' in her own flat

When her ex was thrown out of CBB, for exposing Chloe Goodman’s breasts, she urged her to press charges, “for his own good.”

"I didn't report him when he attacked me because I was scared,” she added. “I was in a bad place emotionally and I didn't want Jeremy to go to jail.

"At least now everyone can see what I had to put up with.”

But losing her job at the cosmetic surgery company, after the 2014 split, was the first of a number of blows as her life span out of control.

She suffered a mental breakdown, leaving her unable to work.

Her lack of funds meant she fell into debt and, in 2016, she lost her rented apartment and could no longer afford to keep her car.


Finding herself on the streets, she developed an addiction to crystal meth and her mental health deteriorated.

In a 2018 interview, she claimed she had been electrocuted at her former flat and said she believed her body was so full of electrical charge she was a danger to others.

“I was getting tortured in my home, my apartment," Loni told the Daily Mail. “I was living by myself but I was getting electrocuted.

“It was really bad, really horrible. I later found a red mark on the back of my neck and I think that was how the electricity was getting into my head.”

She said she tried to talk to friends but “struggled to get across to them what I was talking about, so I just stopped talking to everybody.”

Loni also claimed she saw Jeremy standing outside her flat while she was being “tortured”.

She said her “charge” meant she would bring down buildings she slept in – and the only thing that could stop it was taking drugs.

Loni added that living on the streets was “survival of the fittest” and she hadn't showered in over a year and in a bid to avoid being abused.

“I get robbed all the time. People take my stuff,' she said.

“I basically make myself as dirty as possible so that no one attacks me.

“The dirtier I am the better. Smelly, too. If I do those two things, that seems to work.

“I cut off my hair, too, to look different. I cut it myself. But I have been attacked, that's bound to happen, too.”


Disappearance after pal's offer of help

After she was first pictured sleeping under a shopping trolley, Loni’s model pal Kristin Rossetti tracked her down and put her in a hotel for the night, giving her fresh clothes and a hot meal.

But after talking all night, Loni turned down her friend’s offer to pay for rehab and fled, disappearing for two years and leaving pals worried for her safety.

“Loni needs our help desperately, she needs to be off the streets and getting care,” said Kristen at the time.

“It makes me so sad, but you can't force someone to accept your help, she needs to want to help herself."

Loni finally resurfaced in October 2020, digging through bins near Venice Beach, to find clothing and food.

Her once stunning looks have become ravaged by addiction and she has lost several teeth.

She was just yards away from celebrity mansions, including the £5million home of Ben Affleck.


Speaking to The Sun, she said: “I haven't spoken to Jeremy. I don't want to speak to my friends, I'm doing just fine. I don't want anyone to help me."

She added: "I haven’t got a cell phone. I've got food and I've got a place to sleep. I get money here and there and there’s food in the bins and near the stores. There’s lots here."

Hundreds of destitute Americans live in tents on or near Venice Beach, and the situation has worsened since the start of the pandemic.

Portable toilets and water stations have been set up to help the homeless.
In the latest tragic pictures, Loni is seen snacking on a pizza she found in a bin and sharing it with a nearby squirrel.

Dressed in long socks, fishnet tights and a denim jacket, the former model drags a cart full of clothes and bedding behind her.

While Loni is still battling her addictions her ex-husband, now 40, is managing to stay clean and is now a leading figure in LA’s fitness scene, posting musclebound pictures on his Instagram page.

He has refused to comment on his ex-wife's plight when asked on previous occasions but another ex, Cindy Kovacs, slammed the actor for refusing to help Loni after their split in 2014.

She told the Sun: “It’s really sad what happened to Loni and she never got the help she needs.

“He didn't do anything. It was worth nothing to him. He didn't give a s**t. It was appalling, sickening."

The new pictures will bring heartache to the pals, like Kristen, who still care about the former glamour girl.

Let's hope they lead to Loni getting the help she so desperately needs.

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