Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro and his sexpot significant other Carmen Electra are the latest celebrity couple to field-test their romance on MTV.
Their new reality show, “’Til Death Do Us Part: Carmen & Dave,” dryly chronicles the peculiar wedding plans of the former “Baywatch” beauty and her devil-bearded fiancee, who tied the knot on Nov. 22.
First up was their plan to send a wedding invitation featuring a photo of them lying nude on autopsy tables.
’Til death do they part — get it?
AP: In the first episode, Dave says the naked-corpse wedding invites might keep prudes away from the ceremony. Did it work?
Electra: It kind of went a little darker than it started out. We didn’t end up using it for our wedding invitation. I didn’t know if my dad would like that so much, you know? Not everybody gets it. We ended up using it for the bachelor/bachelorette party instead.
AP: How did you meet each other?
Electra: We actually met on a blind date. A hairdresser who was a mutual friend said ’Dave Navarro is a great guy. Would you like to meet him?’ ... It was love at first sight.
AP: Is it weird having MTV watch you instead of the other way around?
Navarro: The fact of the matter is, we’ve been intending on finalizing this marriage for the past year. Had it not been for MTV’s involvement and suggestion of the show, we may honestly still not be married at this point. We actually had to hop to it and make it happen. This forced us to clear our schedules and do the show and be married — which is awesome.
AP: So MTV is like the best friend who coaxes you both together?
Navarro: Yeah, another perk that comes from this whole thing is that, in hindsight, watching some of the episodes is a nice opportunity for us to see each other in each other’s absence. It’s all those things that grooms and brides never see, such as their husband- or wife-to-be getting ready for the marriage. What groom gets to see his bride putting on her wedding dress for the first time? That’s usually supposed to be unlucky.
AP: Maybe it’s not unlucky if you only watch it on tape.
Navarro: Exactly. ... If it is bad luck, then what we’ll do then is sign on for a second season and document the divorce proceedings.
Electra: Everything’s a show!
Navarro: You can’t lose.
AP: Is it unlucky to see the bride getting ready for the first divorce hearing?
Electra and Navarro: (Silence.)
AP: Are you concerned that the show will change the way people think about you? (Jessica Simpson from MTV’s “Newlyweds” became a laughingstock for confusing “Chicken of the Sea” tuna with actual poultry.)
Electra: When MTV first approached us, I was more concerned — more so me than Dave ...
Navarro: Yeah, I didn’t care.
Electra: ... about what people were going to think about us sharing this intimate part of our lives with everyone. But we really thought about it, so we know what we’re getting ourselves into.
Navarro: I’ll tell you this, man, about that — it’s been a lot of fun. And we’re not the kind to shy away from a good time. Life’s too short to shy away from things, and if we were all that concerned about what people thought we wouldn’t be in entertainment anyway. Basically that’s what we do. We put ourselves out there to get judged.
AP: Did “The Osbournes” or “Newlyweds” give you any ideas for how to act in front of the camera?
Electra: Not necessarily. You just have to be yourself. That’s what makes this show different. We’re not Nick and Jessica, and we’re not the Osbournes. We’re just going to be ourselves.
Navarro: It was also somewhat controlled. The cameras were only around for wedding related stuff. It wasn’t 24-7, our house wasn’t wired with spy cameras. So it was pretty liberating in that sense.
AP: Carmen, you also have a new exercise DVD called “Aerobic Striptease,” but I didn’t see a dancing pole in your house.
Electra: I don’t do pole dancing, although I wouldn’t mind learning how. That takes a lot of strength. My style is more burlesque striptease, you learn how to give a lap dance. There’s a cardio section that really makes you sweat.
AP: It’s good for your partner’s heart, too.
Electra: (Laughs.) Exactly. Get his heart rate going and everybody’s happy.