“Till death do us part…”
While couples promise to remain committed to each other forever, the reality is for one reason or another, not all marriages last.
Like many Hollywood stars, David Hasselhoff has gone through his fair share of relationships. While he most recently married Hayley Roberts in 2018, The Hoff, as he’s known, previously had a 17-year marriage with Pamela Bach.
Unfortunately, their marriage ended in a nasty divorce which led to him gaining custody of their two children.
Before marrying Bach, Hasselhoff, star of Knight Rider and Baywatch, was married to Catherine Hickland for 5 years.
Less than one year after their marriage dissolved, Hasselhoff wed Bach. The two first met on the set of Knight Rider.
Shortly after they married the couple welcomed their first child, Taylor Ann Hasselhoff, born May 5, 1990. Just over two years later they welcomed a second daughter, Hayley Hasselhoff, born August 26, 1992.
As Hasselhoff starred in Baywatch, the family lived a seemingly normal Hollywood life, but behind the scenes things began to unravel. And in January 2006, he filed for divorce from his wife of 17 years. Hasselhoff claimed the two had irreconcilable differences.
“The couple have agreed to an amicable settlement. They have been married for l6 years,” Judy Katz, Hasselhoff’s publicist said.
But the months that followed were anything but friendly.
Bach was given custody of one daughter, while Hasselhoff was granted custody of the other. She claimed he was violent towards her and filed a restraining order, but it was denied.
In the months that followed more drama ensued after a 66-page filing was inadvertently made public.
The filing, which came from Hasselhoff’s lawyers, claimed that Bach had tested positive for cocaine within the past two months and stated that she was drunk during their daughter’s sweet sixteen.
It also included numerous instances of infidelity committed by Hasselhoff as well as allegations of drug, alcohol, and physical abuse.
“We’re all outraged. This was a horrible mistake on behalf of the court,” Hasselhoff’s attorney Melvin Goldsman told PEOPLE. “David would never intentionally release anything that would be hurtful to his children. He’s quite disturbed about this.”
However, Bach’s attorney believed it was an attempt to paint her in a bad light.
In May 2007, a drunken video of Hasselhoff emerged and he was temporarily blocked from seeing his children. However, that decision was reversed in June when he was granted full custody of the couple’s teenaged girls.
“The judge said today, ‘Enough – enough is enough, these children have been through enough,’” he said, according to People.
After the court hearing, Bach was seen crying in the hallway.
By January 2008, the couple were officially divorced and all of their post-divorce issues had been resolved, according to Access.
“I’m pleased that everything has been resolved and I’m proud of my daughters who have remained strong and have exhibited dignity during this very difficult time. We are all moving on,” Hasselhoff said at the time.
It always breaks my heart to hear when a marriage doesn’t work out and ends in divorce, especially when children all involved.
But it seems like all parties have finally worked it out and cordial with each other now.
