Why Dennis Rodman And Carmen Electra's Marriage Was Toxic

Episode three of ESPN's 10-part docu-series focusing on the 1997-98 Chicago Bulls, The Last Dance, featured Dennis Rodman. Even his ex-wife, Carmen Electra, appeared to tell an epic story about Michael Jordan showing up at Rodman's apartment to drag him back to practice after a mid-season trip to Las Vegas (via NBC Sports). 

Honestly, there could have been ten more episodes devoted to Rodman stories. In 1998, he and Electra got married in a Las Vegas ceremony, according to ABC News. In a 1999 interview with the Chicago Tribune, Electra denied rumors that they were getting an annulment. She also commented on the fact that the pair were living separately, saying, "It gives us time to miss each other. I think if we were together every day we would get on each other's nerves."

The couple divorced the same year, but the short-lived marriage did mark a very significant chapter in their lives. In 2014, ABC News reported that Electra and Rodman got together soon after her mother passed away. Electra admitted, "I just went into self-destruction." She went on to explain, "He was fun. I started drinking. People couldn't understand why I loved him. Because he had a reputation for being a bad boy. What I saw in the beginning was this sort of gentle giant." 

Of their marriage, she admitted, "It happened so fast and I remember right after, I felt like, 'Oh God, what did we do? What did we just do?'" After describing their relationship as "very passionate," she said: "When it was good, it was amazing. When it was bad, it was the worst."

Jason Hehir, the director of The Last Dance, dished on some Dennis Rodman and Carmen Electra stories that didn't make it into the documentary. According to Sports Illustrated Hehir said, "their first date she told me — they're driving along in his truck and he gets on the highway going the wrong way and starts driving at traffic on the freeway." That's an interesting omen for a relationship. Even the way they met was pretty weird. Electra took her coat off at a bar and Rodman refused to return it unless she ate at a diner with him and his friends.

Hehir remarked, "There are so many little things that we couldn't fit into this." Only with Rodman would it be considered a "little thing" to drive on the wrong side of the highway.

That wasn't their only "exciting" date. Electra dished on another during an April 2020 interview with the Los Angeles Times. She began, "One day when the Bulls had an off day from practicing, Dennis said he had a surprise for me." After blindfolding her and putting her on the back of his motorcycle, they ended up at the Chicago Bulls practice facility. She described the day as "crazy" and compared it to being "two kids in a candy store." 

She recalled, "We were eating Popsicles from the fridge and pretty much having sex all over the damn place — in the physical therapy room, in the weight room. Obviously on the court."

There didn't appear to be any animosity between Carmen Electra and Dennis Rodman when they spoke about their relationship during ESPN's Last Dance docu-series, but, as she said, their relationship was "very passionate." It also ended pretty quickly. 

However, they actually do appear to be on pretty good terms these days. Aside from Electra's willingness to participate in the documentary serving as a possible indication that these two are cool with each other, she also addressed where they stand during a 2016 interview with the Huffington Post. Sometime shortly before the interview, the two of them happened to be at the same party, leading many people to anticipate some high drama, but that actually wasn't the case. 

Electra recalled, "There was chaos with security — they thought it was going to be this big problem and this big deal." She explained, "They said, 'do you want us to keep you guys separate?' and I said, 'no!'" It ended up being just fine between the two exes. Then, the former Mrs. Rodman revealed, "We talked for five minutes, we caught up a little bit and that was it — and it was nice." She also added, "I've cared about him throughout all these years and it was great to hear that he sounded like he was in a decent place."

While their union was super-short lived, it will live on forever in history, entertaining both Chicago Bulls fans and pop culture enthusiasts until the end of time.