The Sports Illustrated model turned aspiring sports broadcaster is coming home to Calabasas, and she’s been building toward this moment for years.
Raine Michaels has one of the more recognizable last names on the “Calabasas Confidential” cast. But if you think she’s just coasting on her father’s rock star legacy, you haven’t been paying attention. Here’s everything you need to know about her.
Who Is Raine Michaels?
Raine Elizabeth Michaels was born on May 20, 2000 in Los Angeles. She is the older daughter of Bret Michaels — lead singer of Poison and one of rock’s most enduring frontmen — and his longtime partner Kristi Gibson, who was herself a model and actress. Raine grew up between Westlake Village and Calabasas, which makes her return for “Calabasas Confidential” a genuine homecoming rather than a casting convenience.
Her younger sister is Jorja Bleu Michaels, who co-wrote the song “Unbroken” with their father at just 12 years old. Talent, apparently, runs in multiple directions in this family.
Growing Up Michaels
Raine has been refreshingly candid about what it was actually like growing up with one of rock’s most recognizable faces as your dad. “He’s a regular dad,” she told Fox News. “We go to the beach, play football in the front yard — we just do regular things.” She went on tour with him, met Lynyrd Skynyrd, and thought all of it was completely normal — which, to be fair, is exactly what you would think if that was just your life.
She also appeared alongside her father and sister in his 2010 VH1 reality series “Bret Michaels: Life As I Know It,” which means “Calabasas Confidential” is not technically her first time on a reality camera. It is, however, the first time the show is entirely hers.
Bret has been open about the fact that his daughters were a driving force through his most serious health scares — a life-threatening brain hemorrhage in 2010 and heart surgery the following year. That kind of context adds something to who Raine is that goes well beyond a famous last name.
The Modeling Career
Raine’s modeling ambitions started early. She credits her mother, a former model, as her original inspiration and said she knew she wanted to pursue it from age 13. She was signed to an agency at 16 and later to Ford Models, but held off on pursuing it aggressively until she was older.
The breakout moment came in 2018 when she made her runway debut at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit show in Miami. She followed that up as a finalist in SI’s 2019 Swim Search competition — a competition that has launched the careers of names like Heidi Klum, Elle McPherson, and Chrissy Teigen. Bret, by her own account, called her every five seconds leading up to her walk and was waiting outside when it was done.
She has been represented by ONE Model Management and has been vocal about her belief that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes — citing Kate Upton as a major role model and making a point of the fact that she wanted to be part of a conversation that showed curves were not a liability in modeling.
The Sports Broadcasting Side
Modeling is only half the story. Raine attended Belmont University in Nashville, where she studied sports journalism and broadcasting — a passion that runs parallel to her modeling career and gives her a dimension a lot of her castmates don’t have. She is an aspiring sports broadcaster, a proud rescue dog mom, and has a volunteer history that includes Best Buddies International, the Special Olympics, and animal rescue work that started in middle school.
The fact that she splits her time between New York and LA, keeps her father’s Calabasas house as a home base when she’s on the West Coast, and has genuine ties to the community makes her one of the more rooted cast members in the show’s premise.
Why She’s One to Watch
Raine Michaels walks into “Calabasas Confidential” with a runway career, a broadcasting degree, a rock and roll last name, and a personality that has always seemed more interested in earning things than inheriting them. She told Fox News early in her career that yes, her father can open doors — but she has to work hard to keep them open. That’s the kind of attitude that tends to translate well on camera.
“Calabasas Confidential” premieres May 29 on Netflix.
More ‘Calabasas Confidential’ Cast:
Want the daily reality TV drama — no spam, just the good stuff?
Subscribe