Born on September 30, 1978, Candice Michelle Beckman-Ehrlich was raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and began modeling at the age of 16. She soon moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career as a model and actress, studying Theater Arts at Santa Monica College and training at The Piero Dusa Acting Studio. During this time, she adopted the stage name Candice Michelle, with Michelle as her last name. She then began appearing on various bodybuilding and car magazines. In June 2002, she was named Playboy Cyber Girl of the Week. As for her acting stints, she worked on television series Party of Five and 7th Heaven and films Tomcats and A Man Apart.
In July 2004, Candice Michelle auditioned for World Wrestling Entertainment's RAW Diva Search. She became a contestant but did not make it into the final ten. She later competed on Raw in various Diva contests such as lingerie fashion shows and limbo contests. A year later, she moved to the Smackdown! franchise and debuted on her pay-per-view, The Great American Bash. She also teamed up with Torrie and Victoria and the three later became the Ladies in Pink and Vince's Devils. Her first WWE Women's Championship was in a Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle Royal, where she was eliminated from the match by Ashley Massaro.
When Candice Michelle got her first singles WWE Women's Championship match, she lost to then-champion Trish Stratus. In July, she also was the Special Guest Referee during a tag team match of Stratus and Wilson against Victoria and Mickie James. In November, she suffered a broken nose when Victoria kicked her in the face. She later had surgery to repair her deviated septum.
In 2007, Candice Michelle fought with Beth Phoenix at the Unforgiven pay-per-view. In October of that year, she cracked her clavicle during her rematch for the Women's title against Phoenix. Despite having all these injuries and battles, Candice Michelle remains to be a bubbly person who admits to being a "Cheese Head."
Candice returned on-screen during RAW’s February 18, 2008 edition, but went back to her usual in-ring antics on March 17. She teamed up with Maria to defeat Jillian Hall and Victoria. However, she injured her left shoulder and was replaced by Ashley at WrestleMania XXIV. Returning on September, Candice Michelle joined Kelly Kelly and Mickie James in a match against Jillian Hall, Katie Lea Burchill and Beth Phoenix.
