At Home with Brande Roderick & Glenn Cadrez

At Home with Brande Roderick & Glenn Cadrez

Posted on January 7, 2014

When actress Brande Roderick and her husband, retired NFL linebacker Glenn Cadrez, decided to move from Los Angeles to La Jolla, they wanted good schools for their young children and a sense of community. “But the thing that really sold us was the view,” says the blonde, blue-eyed Roderick, who has appeared on The Apprentice and Baywatch, as well as in feature films. “I said, ‘OK, this [house] is the one I want.’ I just fell in love with the view. It was so gorgeous.”

Indeed, the couple’s Muirlands-area home has dazzling views of the shoreline from virtually every room in the house. The Spanish-style home has stucco walls, a mosaic tiled archway, hardwood floors, and wood beam ceilings. The backyard is filled with “kid stuff ” — a playhouse, slide, and swings — for the couple’s two young boys, two-year-old Kannon and three-year-old Keaton. In the kitchen, Roderick has prominently posted the “Family Rules: Help Each Other. Be Thankful. Know You are Loved.”

It is Roderick’s love for children that led her to raise $20,000 on NBC’s All-Star Celebrity Apprentice last year for Promises2Kids and the Polinsky Children’s Center, nonprofits that respond to the needs of foster children and fight against child abuse and neglect. “I toured their facility and found they give these children a place of love and a feeling of family and safety.” Roderick also recently hosted a toy drive for the center at the W Hotel in Los Angeles, calling on support from her celebrity friends. She returned home with a huge U-Haul stuffed with toys.

Asked whether all the drama on The Apprentice TV show is just for show, Roderick insists with a laugh: “Everything you saw on there was real — all that fighting. The thing is, you’re working 18-hour days, 6 days a week. You’re going on no sleep. You’re stressed. You’re doing things in two days that companies normally do in two months. The stress levels are high so people are bound to be agitated and get into fights.” Roderick, considered one of the nice contestants on the show, “tried to keep it cool with everybody,” she says. “I don’t like fighting. It takes a lot to make me mad.”

As for Donald Trump, “what you see is what you get,” says Roderick. “He doesn’t sugar coat anything. He is who he is.” She says her former boss could be a funny guy, and his signature hairstyle, often the butt of jokes, is indeed real. “We asked him about that. He said, one time in the boardroom, ‘Why I am going to change it now? It’s my thing.’”

Roderick’s interest in acting began when she was a child growing up in Sonoma County. “It was just something I always wanted to do as a little kid. I’d put on fun little performances for my family.” In her 20s, she moved to Los Angeles, soon landing roles on Beverly Hills, 90210, The Love Boat, and Baywatch. “It was the best job in the world,” she recalls. “I lived in Hawaii, went to the beach every day, and swam in the ocean. It was the best job ever.” She also landed in the pages of Playboy magazine, and was selected Playmate of the Year in 2001.

As for her husband, Roderick says with a laugh, “We actually met on a casting couch.” The retired football player, who played 11 seasons in the NFL and competed in two Super Bowls, asked her to read for a part in Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror, a film that he was producing. What she didn’t learn until much later was that Cadrez had seen her on The Surreal Life, a reality series, and decided she was the girl he was going to marry. “It was instant chemistry,” Roderick recalls. Yes, she got the part.

Cadrez proposed to her in the Winner’s Circle at Del Mar’s Pacific Classic. “In front of 30,000 people with the cameras rolling, he got down on one knee in front of everybody.” And yes, she said “Yes!’”

While Roderick still accepts acting jobs a few times a year, she and her husband are busy with family and business projects, including Pantofola d’Oro, an Italian shoe label. Singer Adam Levine designed a men’s line for the company, and Ginny Hilfiger (Tommy’s sister) designed a women’s line.

The couple’s latest project is Alkaline 88 water, the first and only bulk alkaline water, available by the gallon and in 3-liter bottles at grocery stores like Albertson’s as well as convenience stores. Buying in bulk cuts down on both plastic consumption and expense, says Roderick, who serves as Alkaline 88’s celebrity spokesperson, advisory board member, and shareholder. While there is ongoing debate about the health benefits from alkaline water, Roderick says that, based on her experience, Alkaline 88 hydrates her skin, reducing dryness and wrinkles; gives her an energy boost, and decreases heartburn.

Roderick has also written a book, Bounce Don’t Break: Brande’s Guide to Life, Love, and Success, which she calls part advice, part memoir, covering such topics as relationships, self-esteem, careers, health, and fitness.

Roderick and Cadrez are a “laid-back family,” she says, often enjoying “Happy Hours,” early dinners with other young families at Sushi on the Rock and Herringbone, and breakfast at The Cottage. They love summers in the park overlooking La Jolla Cove where they hang out with friends, and share picnics. The boys like to play ball, and Roderick stays model slim with twice weekly Pilates classes and boot camps.

The family truly lives by those rules posted in the kitchen: “Be Happy, Show Compassion, Be Grateful.”And don’t forget to “Laugh Out Loud.”   Andrea Naversen