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For four years, former Playboy playmates – and twins – Karissa and Kristina Shannon were thought to have been living a life of luxury and glamour inside the Playboy mansion with boyfriend Hugh Hefner. But behind closed doors, the Florida natives were fighting to survive a web of trauma-filled experiences ignited by jealousy and betrayal.
Coming from “humble beginnings,” the twins, now 35, were first discovered when they were just 16 years old. Two years later, they moved into the mansion with Hefner and his already-established girlfriends and “The Girls Next Door” stars Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson.
“We were only 18, it was our 19th birthday when we actually hooked up with Hef,” Kristina told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview.
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“We were teenagers,” Karissa added.
“So, it was like we felt out of our comfort zone. We didn’t have fake boobs, we didn’t have fake teeth, we didn’t have the fake hair,” Kristina continued. “We were all-natural, and we were just trying to make it, and finding out we were going to be Playmates was the biggest deal to us. And then finding out we could be on the TV show was even bigger.”
Upon entering the mansion, the girls instantly felt “very bullied” by the other women.
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“These girls are so mean, and we didn’t know what to do,” Kristina said.
The luxurious life they once fantasized about quickly became a nightmare when an STD outbreak got passed around.
“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.”
“We were yelling and screaming, crying. We were so mad,” Karissa added.
“And they’re such a hippie mentality. . . . They’re like, ‘Oh, it’s normal sexual activity.’ They said, ‘When you’re sexually active, that’s what happens.’ We’re like, no, we were 18, 19. And we’re thinking in our heads, ‘You guys are nuts.’ Just because you’re sexually active does not meet with that, you’re catching STDs, then we’re not okay with it.”
“From what Hef says, when we all caught chlamydia, is that when you’re sexually active, that’s what happens,” said Kristina. “That’s what he said. So you cannot go by what he says. You cannot trust him. So you have to watch out for yourself.”
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Kristina claimed that Hefner would have sex with “anything walking.”
“Hef, he would definitely a hundred percent have sex with anything walking, anything walking. If he found it somewhat good-looking, he would definitely hook up. . . . So, it was just like we had to deal with it.
“It was very embarrassing,” Karissa added.
“You cannot go by what [Hugh Hefner] says. You cannot trust him. So you have to watch out for yourself.”
Due to the lack of protection, Karissa found herself pregnant at 20 years old.
“I didn’t want Hef to know, because the first thing I thought of, he was going to want to keep it,” Karissa said. “I didn’t want [anyone] else to know, because I felt like I didn’t want to be pregnant by him. I didn’t want to have to deal with it.”
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Karissa ended up getting an abortion, a “big and emotional” decision, she said.
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“Juicy J from Three 6 Mafia was the only friend we had, and his dad was a pastor,” Karissa recalled.
“He took us to get her abortion,” Kristina added.
After the procedure, the girls had to film promos for “Girls Next Door.”
“My stomach was so swollen,” Karissa recalled. “I was not in any way ready to talk about it. And I was so scared that Hef would find out that he wanted it. And I didn’t know what was, I didn’t know what to do … I was scared. I just didn’t want anyone to know. And I was embarrassed and I felt disgusting.”
“I was so confused and dealing with so much stuff, it really trauma bonded me to my sister, and that’s why we went through what we went through, and I’m just so happy that I’ve come out of it,” she added.
By the time they were 22 years old, the girls had had enough and were ready to leave Hefner and the mansion.
“[Living in the Playboy mansion] was very scary for us. It really was, because we lost who we were.”
“When we moved out, we had a couple of years where we went through this individuality phase,” Karissa recently told People magazine. “I feel like every set of twins goes through it, particularly in your early 20s. We were both into different things and trying to be individuals, because Hef really did force the twin thing on us, more than anyone else had ever. But we’ve always been extremely close. I believe we’re twin flames, closer than most twins.”
“Everyone was saying we were going through our ‘Anna Nicole phase,'” Kristina told the outlet. “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.”
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The twins told Fox News Digital that Hefner had really stripped them of their identities in a lot of ways.
“It was very scary for us. It really was, because we lost who we were,” Kristina said.
Now, the women, who now live in Michigan, are focused on the future and taking care of their mental, spiritual and physical health.
“We meditate every day together, and we’re into meal-prepping and not eating out, really self-care and just taking time for ourselves and learning how to be selfish, learning how to say no,” Karissa said.
“We went in our hearts, we went through our healing era, which took years. 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.
As far as their next professional move, the twins are looking for a creative outlet, whether it be a talk show or a podcast.
“Something honest and real,” said Kristina. “We won’t hold back.”
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