Hugh Hefner widow Crystal opens up on relationship with Playboy mogul: There’s a price

Crystal Hefner has admitted there was a “price” to pay for sleeping with her late husband Hugh Hefner as she opened up on her life with the Playboy Mansion owner.

Hefner died at the age of 91 in September 2017 after being diagnosed with sepsis, leaving behind untold stories from inside the elusive Mansion, which housed dozens of models.

He began a relationship with Crystal in 2009 when she was only 21 after she entered the Playboy Mansion. The couple got married on New Year’s Eve in 2012 after she broke off their engagement in 2011, having briefly reconciled with her former boyfriend, Jordan McGraw.

In her new memoir ‘Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself’, which is due to be released on January 23, Crystal lifted the lid of her life as a Playmate and how therapy made her re-evaluate her relationship with millionaire Hugh.

“I realized I was dealing with a really big power imbalance,” Crystal said. “It seemed like a world of success and fantasy, but everyone’s having to sleep with an 80-year-old. There’s a price. Everything has a price.”

Hefner even appeared on the E! reality series about the Playmates, ‘The Girls Next Door’, and admitted that she felt like she lost her identity during her time in the Playboy Mansion.

“At the time I thought I was on top,” she added. “I thought, ‘Wow, if I just like everything that he likes and do all the things that he wants me to do, then I’m the favorite.’ And I was, but I just lost myself in the process.”

Crystal Hefner reveals Hugh’s dying wish

Explaining her thought process behind the title of her memoir, Crystal recalled a moment where Hugh asked her not to paint him in a negative light when he passed away.

However, she decided to change her mind after attending therapy to work through her issues.

“[I had] a conversation with Hef and he let me know: ‘Once I go, when I’m gone, please only say good things about me’,” she said.

“I kept that promise for the last five years. After going through a lot of therapy and healing, I realized that I needed to be honest about my time there. The book is about healing from a toxic environment.”