Nicole Eggert struggled financially after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

The Baywatch star, 54, was diagnosed with the disease in December 2023 and she subsequently underwent a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery while also having a full hysterectomy earlier this year - and she's now opened up about the "financial strain" she suffered as she faced mounting bills and the pressure of being a single mother to two daughters, Dilyn, 28, and Keegan, 15, while being unable to work during her treatment.

Nicole told Fox News Digital: "I'm a 100 per cent single parent. One of my daughters is an adult, so she is very self-independent, and she does great, but I do have a teenager still at home ...

"I have that responsibility, and then I have all the household and homemaker, head of household responsibilities and then the cost of what this diagnosis brings, which is a lot … Really, you can't even wrap your head around it."

Nicole added: "In my line of work, I couldn't commit to being on any kind of production because I'm gonna be in treatment and in and out of treatment ... three to five, at least, days a week. So, it's not like it's work from home kind of work.

"I had to completely come to the realisation that I wasn't gonna have income, and yet the bills don't stop. And the teenagers still need their things. And life needs their things and the car still needs the gas. And, you know, all of it."

However, Nicole remains philosophical about her money troubles because she's just grateful to have survived.

She added: "It's sort of like, well, 'Ah, I'm alive.' Then, you know, if you have any kind of financial strain, it's like: 'Well, at least you're alive to deal with it. At least you are alive where you can go out and fix it'.

"So, there's that part too, where suddenly you're like: 'Wow, whatever. It's just, it's just money.' And that comes and goes. So, you know, it's ebb and flow of life."

Nicole found fame back in the 1990s when she was cast as lifeguard Summer Quinn in hit series Baywatch, which made global stars of the likes of Pamela Anderson as C.J. Parker, David Hasselhoff as Mitch Buchannon and Yasmine Bleeth as Caroline Holden.

Baywatch - which ran for 11 seasons from 1989 to 2001 - became a worldwide television phenomenon and was one of the most-watched shows of the 1990s but Nicole left after just two seasons and she recently admitted she regretted the decision to walk away after being promised a leading role in spin-off that ultimately never materialised.

Speaking on the Still Here Hollywood podcast, she said: "I had some crazy idea in my head that if I left the show, I would be able to detach myself from the stigma that the show had given all of us as actors, which is now a thing."

Nicole explained that the original plan had been for her to lead a proposed spin-off, which was described to her as a "Beverly Hills, 90210-esque" beach-based series focused on lifeguard training and younger characters, but the network shifted direction and the spin-off plans were ultimately shelved.

She recalled: "They were like, 'Spin-off? Nothing! This is what's working, and we want it to stay like this!' So after two seasons, I politely bowed out, because it wasn't really what I signed up for."

Looking back on her younger self, Nicole admitted the decision was made without fully understanding how the show's success would continue to grow.

She added: "At 20 years old … if I could go back and talk to that 20 year old … wild ideas."