Janel Parrish Reflects On Her Baywatch Debut As Her Pretty Little Liars Co-Star Shay Mitchell Joins The Reboot

What do Pretty Little Liars and Baywatch have in common? More than just a few liars.

Long before she brought to life the often misunderstood Mona Vanderwaal on Pretty Little Liars, Janel Parrish made her TV acting debut on Baywatch: Hawaii. It was 1999 when she appeared in season 10 as Hina, a young girl rescued from drowning by David Hasselhoff’s Mitch. “Oh my gosh, yeah! I did three episodes. I think I was eight and I remember that David Hasselhoff was so kind,” she told me exclusively for Pop Culture Planet while promoting her new Hallmark Channel film Two For Tee. “All my scenes were with him.”

But filming wasn’t exactly smooth sailing. “I was terrified because, even though I grew up in Hawaii, I'm so scared of the deep ocean. They took me out on jet skis and threw me in the water. I remember they're like, ‘You have to act scared,’ and I'm like, ‘I am scared! I'm going to die!’ she laughed. “Then there was a baby hammerhead shark that somebody saw and I'm eight and I'm like, ‘Take me out of here! I don't want to do it!’ [What an] adventure! I remember a lot about that time. Yeah, crazy.”

Now, decades later, there’s an unexpected full-circle moment as Parrish’s former co-star dons the iconic red swimsuit for the new Fox reboot of Baywatch. “I'm so happy they're bringing it back,” Parrish enthused. “My girl Shay Mitchell from Pretty Little Liars, she booked one of the series regulars, so I'm like, ‘Go Shay!’ It's awesome.” Mitchell will play Trina, a sharp and brilliant former lawyer who left her firm to become a full-time lifeguard.

So, could we see a reunion on the beach? “Call me anytime,” Parrish said with a laugh. “As long as there’s no baby hammerhead sharks in the water, we're good. I’ll get in.”