Two former Playboy models shared their reasons for leaving the Playboy Mansion.
Karissa and Kristina Shannon, both 35, entered a life of luxury and fame when they moved into the mansion at the age of 19 and became Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends. The twins gained further recognition by appearing in the final two seasons of “Girls Next Door,” a show focusing on Hefner’s relationships with girlfriends Holly Madison, Kendra Wilkinson, and Bridget Marquardt.
“We shot those and we overnighted them and literally got a call the next day,” Kristina explained to People Magazine in an exclusive interview.
“They were like, ‘We want to set you girls up for a test shoot in Miami.’ And we were like, ‘Holy cow.'”
Despite the allure, their experience in the Playboy Mansion turned out to be ‘traumatic’ for the sisters.
Describing it as a ‘culture shock’, Kristina recounted: “We were literally just teenagers. We were all natural. We didn’t have fake teeth. We didn’t have fake boobs like the other girls or fake hair. We just walked around with natural faces over tan because we were always in the sun in Florida.”
They experienced ‘jealousy’ from other women due to their ‘special attention’ from Hefner. Their religious beliefs eventually became an issue, with Karissa saying: “We had no family that was there to back us up like a lot of the girls.”
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HUGH HEFNER’S EX-GIRLFRIEND SAYS LIVING IN PLAYBOY MANSION WAS LIKE A ‘CULT’
KENDRA WILKINSON DETAILS LIFE IN PLAYBOY MANSION THAT LATER CAUSED HER ‘SEX PROBLEMS’
The twins left the mansion in 2010, but faced several challenges afterward, such as the death of their grandmother and Kristina’s DUI in 2014. This led to comparisons with former Playmate Anna Nicole Smith.
Kristina stated, “Everyone was saying we were going through our ‘Anna Nicole [Smith] phase. We gained weight. There was alcohol and pills.
“We were really unhealthy and lost and, even at points, suicidal. We had no one. It was just us, trying to figure it out after losing ourselves.”
Anna Nicole Smith gained fame as a Playmate in the 1990s and early 2000s, but tragically passed away in 2007 at the age of 37 due to combined drug intoxication.
Karissa and Kristina realized they couldn’t maintain their lifestyle indefinitely. Karissa shared: “Kristina and I decided to move. We didn’t know where to go, so we decided to go back to where we were born and leave L.A.
“We sold the beauty salon we owned at the time, and said, ‘Let’s get the hell out of here and live a simple life. Let’s just start healing.”