David Hasselhoff, the 73-year-old Baywatch and Knight Rider star, was photographed using a walker during an outing with his wife Hayley Roberts in the West Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
Photos published by the Daily Mail showed Hasselhoff carefully crossing a parking lot with the walker for support, dressed casually in a gray T-shirt, black sweatpants and a beige Nashville hat, with dark glasses and a blue and white sweatshirt draped over his shoulders.
Hayley, 45, was at his side in athletic wear.
His representative confirmed what is happening. Hasselhoff has undergone knee and hip replacement surgery and is currently in physical therapy.
He is “doing fine” and “doing well and feeling good,” according to the rep. The walker is a temporary mobility aid during his recovery.
An insider told the Daily Mail more about what the recovery has actually been like.
“For a man who has always been fit and very active and in shape, his recent surgeries have kicked his ass a bit more than he expected,” the source said. “He’s healing, and being outside is a relief and the perfect remedy for his current shortcomings.”
Hasselhoff’s Health Timeline
The April 22 sighting is the latest chapter in a health journey that Hasselhoff has been navigating publicly for roughly two years.
In July 2024 he was spotted limping through an airport and revealed he was planning knee surgery. He was later seen being pushed through the same airport in a wheelchair by an airline worker.
In May 2025 he was photographed being pushed in a wheelchair at LAX, at which point he confirmed he was experiencing significant pain and that surgery was imminent.
Earlier in April 2026, on April 6, he was spotted hiking a trail in Calabasas with Hayley, using trekking poles for support, his first public outing in some time after the surgeries.
The April 22 outing with the walker represents further progress, even if the images struck fans as concerning.
Hasselhoff’s health history runs deeper than the joint surgeries. In 2019 he underwent surgery to have a defibrillator implanted due to heart-related issues.
He has been open over the years about struggles with alcohol that came to public attention in 2007 when a video of him inebriated went viral, his daughter later confirmed she filmed the video to raise awareness about his addiction.
In 2009 he was hospitalized after suffering a seizure attributed to a combination of alcohol and medication.
What Is Planned For The Hoff’s Future?
Despite the recovery being harder than anticipated, the insider’s message was clear about what Hasselhoff has on his mind.
He is rehabbing with a purpose. He wants to return to acting, wants to do more music, and has a specific goal tied to the Baywatch reboot currently in development.
“He is rehabbing and wants to get back to doing a few acting gigs, and he wants to do more music,” the source told the Daily Mail. “He would love to make another appearance on the show, and getting better will get him there.”
The source added that Hasselhoff loves seeing the iconic series return and hopes it captures the same magic as the original.
For someone who spent eleven seasons as lifeguard Mitch Buchannon on what became one of the most watched television programs in the world, that connection is not just nostalgia, it is identity.
Baywatch made Hasselhoff a global figure in a way that few American television shows have done for any actor.
Who Is David Hasselhoff?
To understand why photos of him using a walker generate genuine public concern rather than mere tabloid curiosity, you need to understand who Hasselhoff has been for the better part of four decades.
He was born July 17, 1952 in Baltimore, Maryland. He broke through as Michael Knight in Knight Rider on NBC from 1982 to 1986, a show built around a man and his talking car that became a defining piece of 1980s pop culture.
Then came Baywatch. From 1989 to 2000, he played Mitch Buchannon, the lead lifeguard at a Los Angeles County beach, on a show that was technically syndicated rather than a major network hit but that became the most watched television program on earth at its peak.
At its height Baywatch was being seen by over a billion people globally per week.
Alongside the acting career ran a music career that was particularly successful in Germany.
His 1989 single “Looking for Freedom” reached number one in Germany and became tied to one of the most significant moments in modern history, he was invited to perform the song at the Berlin Wall on New Year’s Eve 1989, singing on top of the structure as the world watched the Iron Curtain fall.
That moment made him a cultural touchstone in Germany in a way that transcended entertainment. He performed wearing a light-up piano keyboard jacket and the image became iconic.
He served as a judge on both America’s Got Talent and Britain’s Got Talent in the years following his peak Baywatch fame, which brought him to a new generation of television audiences.
It was at Britain’s Got Talent that his current chapter in life effectively began.
How David Hasselhoff Met Hayley Roberts
In 2011, Hasselhoff was in Cardiff, Wales as a judge on Britain’s Got Talent. Hayley Roberts, then in her early thirties, was working as a sales assistant at a Debenhams department store in Wales, living in Glynneath near Swansea.
She was at the same hotel where Hasselhoff was staying and approached him in the lobby for an autograph.
He agreed, on the condition that she give him her phone number. She did. They began a relationship that both kept largely private for the next several years.
Hayley is 45 years old, making the age difference between them approximately 28 years.
That gap has been a consistent subject of public commentary, though the couple has maintained a stable and visibly affectionate partnership for fifteen years.
They married in July 2018 in a ceremony in Italy. On their first anniversary, Hayley posted about Hasselhoff on Instagram with language that was notably warm and specific, describing him as “so kind, thoughtful with a huge heart and one of the nicest people I know.”
In every photograph from their public outings over the past two years, including the April 22 walker sighting, she is at his side. While he navigated the parking lot with the walker, she walked with him across it.
The Personal Context
The past year has not been straightforward for Hasselhoff beyond his own health. His second ex-wife Pamela Bach, with whom he has two daughters, Taylor-Ann and Hayley Amber, passed away in March 2025.
Hasselhoff and Bach divorced in 2006 after a marriage of approximately seventeen years. He chose not to attend her funeral but issued a public statement expressing his sorrow and asking for privacy for his family.
He has had his daughters’ presence in his life through the years, and the combination of personal loss and significant physical surgery has defined a genuinely difficult period for someone who spent decades as one of the most physically iconic television stars of his generation.
The rep says he is doing fine. The insider says the surgeries hit harder than expected. Being outside, across a parking lot, with a walker and his wife is the current reality, and apparently enough of a foundation to plan a comeback.
