Hugh Hefner forced us into sick threesomes that left us suicidal – now we’ve got normal jobs after escaping Playboy cult
THEY were Hugh Hefner’s ultimate Playmates – stunning teenage twin sisters who made Playboy history.
But now Kristina and Karissa Shannon say they have been left traumatised by their time in the Playboy mansion with group sex, an unwanted pregnancy and STIs, and feared they could have ended up dead like tragic Anna Nicole Smith.
In an astonishing transformation, the siblings, 35, have now turned their backs on their previous lives of debauchery and have trained as estate agents in a bid to have a normal life.
And they say they have found God as they are ready to settle down, start dating again and hopefully become mothers together.
In an interview with People magazine, Karissa says: “We’re ready for dating and career opportunities. We’re a little bit more ready to be out there again. We’re healed and ready to find what we want.”
“We’re in the process of getting our real estate licenses,” she adds.
“That’s our next big thing. And we both really want to be mothers. I mean, our times are ticking here, so if we can’t find the husband in the next, what … then we’re totally open to IVF motherhood with just us doing it ourselves.”
And Kristina says they would love it if their children were twins too, adding: “We really want to do pregnancy together. We want to be housewives, we want to get married, we want to have children. We want to have big families.
“Since all we have is each other, we want to have big families. It’d be so cool if we could have multiples.”
Kristina and Karissa were born to teenage parents – their dad was 19 and their mum just 16 when they were born – and were raised by their paternal grandma in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
They felt they had to grow up fast and at the age of just 16 they dropped out of school to work at Ker’s Winghouse, a restaurant similar to Hooters.
The bar made the twins the focus of their marketing campaign, plastering them on billboards, menus and the annual calendar.
They were spotted by a Playboy photographer and he changed their lives overnight.
He submitted their pictures to Playboy and they got a call the very next day saying Hugh Hefner wanted them as playmates.
Karissa says: “Hef was dying over the photos. They were like giving us behind-the-scenes confirmation that we would be Playmates, during our test shoot. They said, ‘He loves you girls. You guys are in.'”
Unwelcome attention
But although the girls knew the opportunity was going to be life-changing, they were not prepared for the harsh reality of life in the Playboy mansion.
“It was such a culture shock for us. We didn’t grow up with a young mother, so we didn’t know about hair and make-up. We didn’t know much about fashion or style. And we’re a lot younger than Bridget, Kendra and Holly — we’re teenagers,” Karissa says of the fellow girls in the mansion.
Kristina adds: “We got a lot of jealousy from the other Playmates because we were twins. We were the first twins to each get our own months, which made Playboy history. We were the youngest Playmates and the youngest girlfriends.”
And whereas the other girls were old enough to go out and party, their tender ages meant that Kristina and Karissa were often confined to the mansion or had to go wherever Hugh was going.
But the special attention they got from Hefner – who died in 2017 aged 91 – wasn’t always welcome.
In the 2022 documentary Secrets of Playboy, the sisters revealed they were once forced to have a threesome with the pensioner on their 19th birthday.
“That was the night that we realised,” starts Karissa, with Kristina adding: “What we got ourselves into.”
Kristina says: “We had never done a threesome together before, we would never want to.”
After that night, I didn’t feel like my body was mine anymore. Like, I felt used, disgusted
Kristina
Karissa adds: “And that was our 19th birthday. You’re never going to forget that.”
Afterwards, the twins waited for Hefner to fall asleep. “We ran down the hall to the spare bedroom we were staying in. We hit the shower, steaming hot. Our skin was red from just trying to, like, sterilise,” says Karissa.
Kristina adds, “After that night, I didn’t feel like my body was mine anymore. Like, I felt used, disgusted.”
Suicidal spiral
Both girls claim they contracted chlamydia during their time in the mansion, and Karissa says she had an abortion after getting pregnant with Hefner’s child.
“I felt disgusted with my body,” she says. “I felt like there was something like an alien inside me. I was grossed out. I just wanted to get it over with.”
She later added: “It was like the devil was inside of me. I didn’t want anyone to know I was carrying an 83-year-old man’s child.”
In 2010, the girls decided they wanted to leave the ‘cult’ of the Playboy mansion, but their lives spiralled out of control.
Struggling with trauma, it led to weight gain and a battle with pills and alcohol, and in 2014 they were involved in a car crash which resulted in Kristina being arrested for DUI.
She recalls: “Everyone was saying we were going through our ‘Anna Nicole 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 – who had also been a former Playmate – tragically died at the age of 39 in 2007 and her cause of death was later revealed to have been caused by combined drug intoxication.
The twins decided that the only way to save themselves was to escape the spotlight and retreat from LA back to their childhood home.
“We drove the whole way, without stopping until we got to Michigan. I remember getting into Colorado and smelling that fresh air .. it was just different,” Karissa says.
We were literally praying and just trying to change our lives. And I feel like this is when we really grew up
Karissa
“Being in nature desensitised us. We ended up being diagnosed with manic depression, ADHD, bipolar disorder and generalised anxiety disorder. Being outside the city helped us slow down.”
Karissa explains they took the time “to find out who we are and just be selfish, try and live normally.”
“We were totally just ready to be selfish for the first time. And we were all about God and praying constantly to Jesus,” she explains. “We were literally praying and just trying to change our lives. And I feel like this is when we really grew up.”
“I feel like out of all of this, God was humbling us,” Kristina agrees. “He was humbling us and letting us know, ‘I have another plan for you.’ He’s restoring us and that’s what we feel like now. We are completely different people, but still ourselves.”
Mental healing
The pair’s lives are now a million miles away from their Playboy years, focussing on eating organic food, daily meditation, prayer and finding their inner peace.
Karissa and Kristina, now aged 35, have shed the weight they gained and are embracing a new, grown-up look which they shared with fans in a new photoshoot.
“We do believe in Botox and some fillers, but we’re reducing our breast implants,” Karissa says.
“We’re changing our look. This is our transition in our 30s and you can see it. We’re just trying to figure it out like everybody.”
“We’re healing and listening to our inner selves and keeping God first. We transformed our mental and now you can physically see how much better we are. It starts from within and it’s all really connected,” she continues.
“We’re excited to work hard, have fun and continue protecting our peace.”
Ahead of the 2022 documentary, Playboy issued a statement responding to the ‘abhorrent’ allegations made in the programme.
An open letter posted on its website said: “First and foremost, we want to say: we trust and validate women and their stories, and we strongly support the individuals who have come forward to share their experiences.
“As a brand with sex positivity at its core, we believe safety, security and accountability are paramount, and anything less is inexcusable.”
“Today’s Playboy is not Hugh Hefner’s Playboy.”
Facts you didn't know about the Playboy Mansion
Girlfriends vs Playmates
Rumour has it that Hugh Hefner would have two to a dozen “girlfriends” living with him at a time. These girlfriends are not to be confused with Playmates. Each girlfriend had their own room, but one “special lady” was named as girlfriend number one and stayed with Hef in his room. Each girlfriend received a $1,000 (£760) weekly bonus “allowance.”
Hef’s Wild side
The Playboy mansion was home to a private zoo. It was one of very few private residences that actually has a zoo license. Hefner was a fan of birds. Among his collection – many of which roamed the grounds – were peacocks, macaws, flamingos, toucans and ducks.
The Elvis Legend
Within the mansion was a secret room, called “The Elvis Room.” Legend has it that the King himself, Elvis Presley, had a little slumber party in the room with up to eight eager bunnies.