Carmen Electra Just Revealed Prince's Nightly Request
Carmen Electra spent years keeping the intimate details of her 1990s romance with Prince close to the chest. That changed when the 54-year-old actress stepped onto the red carpet of the 33rd Annual Race to Erase MS Gala in Los Angeles and let one particular memory slip.
'When I was with Prince, he used to want me to sleep with a full face of makeup on and my lashes,' Electra told E! News exclusively at the event. 'Prince liked that and I was down for it and I still did that for a long time in my life.' The superstar who boosted Carmen Electra, got her first record deal, and arguably helped her build entire public identity also, apparently, wanted her fully contoured at 3 a.m.
The two met in the early 1990s after Prince spotted a teenage Tara Leigh Patrick (her given name) at a Los Angeles nightclub. He invited her to audition for an all-girl group he was producing, and though she did not make the cut, the connection between them was undeniable. Prince went on to give her the stage name Carmen Electra, produce her self-titled debut album on his Paisley Park label, and later, according to Electra herself, begin looking at engagement rings during one of her visits to Minnesota. He reportedly asked her whether she wanted to continue working or become a housewife. She chose to keep working. Their romance ended when she was around 19 or 20.
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The relationship, she has noted in past conversations, was intense and fast-moving, 'fast and furious,' as she put it in an Instagram tribute on the tenth anniversary of his 2016 death. Prince, she wrote then, was 'my everything,' but the two ultimately hurt each other in ways a 19-year-old wasn't equipped to fully process. What emerged from the relationship, beyond heartbreak, was a career. Her name, her first industry footing, and a career that would lead to Baywatch, Scary Movie, and decades as one of the most recognized figures of 1990s pop culture.
The full-glam bedtime request, she made clear at the gala, was not a grievance. 'I was down for it,' Electra said with a laugh, before detailing just how thoroughly her nighttime routine has evolved. She now prioritizes eight or more hours of sleep, a full skincare regimen, and sobriety, which is a far cry from false lashes on a pillow in Minneapolis. 'I don't drink,' she said. 'I take really good care of my skin. I wash off my makeup now.'
Prince's reputation for exacting control over his musical environment, and, reportedly, his personal one, is well documented. His partnerships with artists were known to be immersive, boundary-blurring, and deeply personal. Electra's account adds a small but vivid detail to the mythology of a man who, even a decade after his death, still generates the kind of fascination that makes a comment at a gala aside go viral. For the fans who grew up watching Baywatch and listening to Purple Rain, it lands as exactly the kind of thing only Prince would ask, and only someone who truly loved him would agree to.
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This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 4:42 AM.