Playboy twins feared they'd end up dead like Anna Nicole Smith after lives 'crumbled' following 'traumatic' years in Hugh Hefner mansion

Daily Mail​

28-04-2025

Karissa and Kristina Shannon - who were former Playboy playmates - got candid about being left with 'trauma' by life while residing at Hugh Hefner's mansion.
In 2008 - and when they were only at the age of 19 - the twins moved into the Playboy mansion and began an 18-month relationship with Hefner, who passed away in 2017.
Back in 2022 in the A&E docuseries Secrets Of Playboy, the sisters - now 35 - detailed how they both contracted chlamydia and Karissa emotionally opened up about secretly getting an abortion after Hefner got her pregnant.
The pair have now sat down with People Magazine for their first interview in six years to talk about dealing with 'bullying' during their time at the mansion. They also detail how they feared they would end up dead while going through an 'Anna Nicole phase' where they struggled with weight gain, pills and alcohol use.
Karissa and Kristina had been fans of the E! News reality show Girls Next Door before their life as playmates - but Kristina said, 'what they show on TV and on the show was a 100 percent different from what was going on behind the scenes.'
'It was such a culture shock for us,' Karissa jumped in to add. 'We literally...We didn't grow up with a young mother, so we didn't know about hair and makeup.
The pair have now sat down with People Magazine for their first interview in six years to talk about dealing with 'bullying' during their time at the mansion - and how they feared they 'were going through our "Anna Nicole phase"'; seen in 2009 in Monaco
'We didn't know much about fashion or style. And we're a lot younger than Bridget [Marquardt], Kendra [Wilkinson] and Holly [Madison] - we're teenagers.'
Kristina further expressed that there had been tension between the twins as well as the other playmates.
'We got a lot of jealousy from the other Playmates because we were twins,' she stated.
'We were the first twins to each get our own months, which made history. We were the youngest Playmates and the youngest girlfriends.'
Since the twins were still only teenagers at the time of moving into Hefner's mansion, the others were able to go out and party - which they could not do.
Karissa claimed that the jealousy from the others stemmed from Hugh giving them more 'special attention.'
She explained, '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.'
Kristina would 'cry' because 'there was so much bullying' - but the twins decided to stay.
She also shared that 'Playboy opened so many doors, but the obligations for the reality show and being girlfriends limited our opportunities.'
Karissa told People, 'We always say Playboy will always be a part of our lives. We were Playboy fans and we still are Playboy fans. Even though it turned out to be very traumatic for us, there were also a lot of high points.'
Once they hit their early 20s, the twins had moved out and Karissa said that they both temporarily embarked on their own individual paths.
However, the pair soon came to terms that Playboy had 'left a huge hole in both of our hearts and our spirits.'
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.'
After leaving the mansion, the former playmates struggled with substance abuse and in 2014 were notably involved in a car accident which resulted in Kristina being cited for misdemeanor DUI.
Kristina recalled, '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.'
The twins understood they needed a change and moved away from Los Angeles to eventually settle in Michigan.
'I didn't think we would ever come out of it. But Michigan changed us. We love being in Michigan and then going to L.A. or Vegas for work.'
Kristina added that they both have been 'hiding' since the 2022 A&E documentary Secrets Of Playboy released.
In an episode of the docuseries, the twins recalled how they were forced to have a threesome with Hefner on their 19th birthday.
'We had never done a threesome together before, we would never want to,' Kristina expressed, and her twin sister added, 'And that was our 19th birthday. You're never gonna forget that.'
Karissa said at the time, 'Every time I've done it with him, it's assault. For me, it's like rape. He used control mechanisms completely through everything, so I'm happy that I had the abortion.'
Elsewhere in the episode, Karissa expressed that Hefner 'has so much power. It's like a cult. The isolation that I had from the outside world.'
Kristina added that, 'You lose yourself being there' and compared life at the mansion to 'being in prison and have someone breaking you.'
After leaving, the Shannon twins were later diagnosed with PTSD and went to therapy.
Karissa said, 'I don't think that that part is ever gonna go away, that part of us that was taken,' while her twin also shared they have had difficulties dating since. 'We can't emotionally connect like that.'
But three years later, she told People during their latest interview: '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. We're excited to work hard, have fun and continue protecting our peace.'