Playboy Twins Karissa And Kristina Shannon Feared They'd Up Dead Like 'Anna Nicole Smith' After Years In Hugh Hefner's Mansion Made Them 'Suicidal'
Playboy twins Karissa and Kristina Shannon have given a rare interview about their time in the Playboy Mansion and how their lives spiralled out of control.
April 28 2025, Published 6:28 p.m. ET
Playboy twins Karissa and Kristina Shannon feared they would end up dead like Anna Nicole Smith due to the trauma of living in the Playboy Mansion — and dating Hugh Hefner.
RadarOnline.com can reveal the sisters, now 35, have opened up about their experience of being the Playboy founder's girlfriends — when they were just 19 — over an 18-month period, which saw them forced into having a threesome with the elderly womaniser.
The siblings struggled with alcohol, pills and weight gain — and toyed with the idea of killing themselves.
They told how their lives spiraled out of control after leaving the mansion in 2010, struggling with alcohol, pills and weight gain — and toyed with the idea of killing themselves.
Kristina 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 — passed away 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 dated Hugh Hefner when they were just 19.
The rarely-seen sisters previously revealed they both contracted chlamydia and Karissa emotionally opened up about secretly getting an abortion after Hefner got her pregnant.
Now, they are reflecting on how it all went wrong after they entered the mansion.
Kristina said: "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."
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."
Karissa and Kristina were forced to have a threesome with the late Playboy founder.
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."
The twins checked into rehab following their stint in the Playboy Mansion.
Never Miss an
Daily updates from the heart of Hollywood, right to your inbox
By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you’re agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
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 added: "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."
