Hugh Hefner's teen twin exes thought they'd end up dead after mansion 'trauma'

Daily Mirror

28-04-2025

Hugh Hefner's twin exes thought they'd end up dead after mansion 'trauma'
Former Playboy playmates Karissa and Kristina Shannon have revealed they feared for their lives in the infamous mansion. The twins moved to the property in 2008 aged just 19. The duo quickly embarked on an 18-month relationship with the late owner, Hugh Hefner.
However, they have now opened up on the "trauma" they faced inside the home and explained how their life spiralled after they exited the property in 2010. Speaking about their struggles, including weight gain and addiction, the duo claimed people told them they were going through their "Anna Nicole stage".
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Anna Nicole Smith was a famed Playboy magazine centrefold in the early 90s, but sadly died of a combined drug intoxication at the age of 39 in February 2007.
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Speaking to People magazine, Kristina said: "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."
They also opened up about how their time in the mansion went wrong. Explaining how they were much younger than other playmates, including Holly Madison, Kristina claimed the E! News reality show called Girls Next Door was nothing like what really happened.
She said: "What they show on TV and on the show was a 100 percent different from what was going on behind the scenes." She labelled their time in the house a "culture shock" before opening up on the tension they felt with other playmates.
Karissa said the tension came from jealousy due to the "special attention" they received by Hefner. She said: "When we're taking pictures, he would want to get in the middle of the twins to take a picture. Or he would be like, 'Can you move the twins toward the front of the table? I want to sit next to them.; So the girls started getting really jealous."
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And Kristina claimed the bullying left her in tears. However, despite labelling their experience "very traumatic", sister Karissa said Playboy will always be a part of their lives. Karissa added: "It really crumbled who we are, especially when he took our religion away.
"Our believing in Jesus became a big problem, and losing that was just really big trauma that we dealt with. We had no family that was there to back us up like a lot of the girls."
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Previously opening up on an episode of A&E documentary Secrets Of Playboy, Karissa revealed Hefner 'has so much power" that it became like a "cult". She said: "The isolation that I had from the outside world."
Kristina continued to compare life at the mansion to "being in prison and have someone breaking you".
Since leaving the Playboy mansion, the sisters have been diagnosed with PTSD and attended therapy sessions. They have since rediscovered their faith and say they are now much better physically.