Karissa and Kristina Shannon, twin blondes, looked like they were living the dream, starring on The Girls Next Door and living inside Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion. But the truth behind the mansion gates was much darker than the TV version.
The twins were just 18 when they moved in. They had been discovered at 16, coming from a quiet town in Florida with big hopes. Two years later, they were part of Hefner’s inner circle. Young, excited, and unprepared for what life in the mansion would demand from them.
Karissa and Kristina were bullied and made to feel like targets at the Playboy Mansion
Karissa and Kristina Shannon lived with Hugh Hefner ages 18 to 22, expose all.
“Hugh Hefner did not use condoms,” Kristina claimed. “Once everybody caught chlamydia, we’re like, ‘No, we’re only 18. We were 18, and we caught chlamydia.”Karissa got pregnant by Hugh & aborted. pic.twitter.com/UzajA66EJw
— Theresa Longo Fans (@BarkJack_) May 18, 2025
The glamor faded quickly. The girls had expected fun and friendship but were met with cruelty instead. “The girls were mean,” Kristina recalled. “We didn’t have fake boobs, fake hair—we were natural, and it made us easy targets.” They were bullied and made to feel like outsiders in a place they once dreamed of.
Then, things got worse when they fell sick. An STD outbreak swept through the house. “Hef didn’t use condoms,” Kristina said. “We were 18, and we got chlamydia. We were yelling, crying—it was humiliating.” No one apologized. Instead, they were told it was “normal.” But it didn’t feel normal to them. It felt unsafe and wrong. “Hef would sleep with anything walking,” Kristina added. “We felt trapped.”
Karissa got pregnant for Hugh Hefner
Things took a heavier turn when Karissa got pregnant at 20, and the father was Hugh Hefner. “I didn’t want him to know,” she said. “I didn’t want that kind of life.” The only person they trusted was rapper Juicy J. He quietly helped arrange the abortion. And right after the procedure, Karissa had to appear on camera. “My stomach was swollen. I was scared, embarrassed, and I felt disgusting,” she said. The emotional weight only grew: weight gain, alcohol, pills, and depression. “We were suicidal,” Kristina shared. “It was just the two of us, trying to survive.” By 22, they summoned enough courage and left the mansion.
Now, they are 35 and live in Michigan. They’re focused on healing—mentally, physically, and spiritually. “We meditate, we say no more, and we’re learning how to take care of ourselves,” Karissa said. They’ve moved on from the mansion, but the memories still linger. “We lost ourselves in that house,” Kristina added. “But we’re finally finding our way back.”