carpenter was born in las vegas, nevada. at 15, her family moved to rosarito b.c., mexico. later, they moved to chula vista (a suburb of san diego). after graduating high school, she was a san diego chargers cheerleader in 1991 before beginning her hollywood career. she had also sky-dived. she married damian hardy on october 5, 2002. she gave birth to their son donavan charles hardy on march 24, 2003.