THE life of a Playboy Bunny appeared to most to be a series of wild parties attended by A-list celebrities where guests would cavort semi naked.
But behind the scenes many of those who have graced the pages of the famous magazine and lived with founder Hugh Hefner in his mansion have suffered terrible tragedy.
Just this week, Holly Madison revealed how Hefner was “literally pushed on top” of her on their first date.
The Girls Next Door star dated the Playboy founder, who died in 2017 aged 91, between 2001 and 2008.
‘TRAUMATIC’ SEX
She said the experience was “traumatic”, adding: “And after it happened, I was just mortified and embarrassed and it had way more of an emotional impact on me than I thought it would.”
Holly’s frank admission is part of a series of tell-all interviews where the Bunnies described 9pm curfews and not being able to invite friends over the mansion.
Some, like Playmate Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett, also said she dreaded romps with Hef.
Writing in her book Being Kendra: Cribs, Cocktails, and Getting My Sexy Back, she said: “I had to be very drunk or smoke lots of weed to survive those nights — there was no way around it.”
She added: “At about the minute mark, I pulled away and it was done. It was like a job. Clock in, clock out. It’s not like I enjoyed having sex with him.”
And Playboy model Carla Howe previously told how the girls had a strict 9pm curfew, saying that none of them were even allowed to invite friends to the mansion to see them.
For others, their lives were blighted by drug addictions, suicide and even murder.
Here The Sun looks at the tragedies which have plagued the lives of the Bunnies.
DRUG OVERDOSE
Anna Nicole Smith, who rose to fame as a Playboy model, died of an accidental drug overdose at a Florida hotel in 2007. She was just 39.
Her death was believed to be a result of “combined drug intoxication.”
“She was my best friend, my lover, the mother of my daughter. She was everything to me, literally everything. My whole world,” longtime companion Daniel K. Stern told People.
He also said in court, according to Fox News: “She talked about death really from the time I met her.
“Anna always thought in a way that she was going to die young.
“She thought she was going to be like Marilyn Monroe, she thought she would die at the age of 36 or 37.”
Before her death, Anna had two children: Daniel Wayne Smith and Dannielynn Birkhead.
Daniel died of an accidental overdose at age 20 on September 10, 2006.
Stern said that Anna never recovered from the death of her son.
“Anna saw herself as both mother and father to Daniel,” he told People after her death. “From the time I met her, everything was for Daniel.
“I would say that physically, she died last week, but in a lot of ways, emotionally she died when Daniel died.”
CHOKED IN A BED
Former Playboy model Christina Carlin-Kraft was only 36 when she was found dead at her home in Pennsylvania.
A court later heard she had been choked to death on her own bed by 31-year-old killer Jonathan Harris, who had tied her hands to prevent her from fighting back.
Jurors were told her last moments on Earth were “horrendous and horrifying”.
Christina – named Playboy Cyber Girl of the Week on May 4, 2009 – was of Russian, German and Swedish heritage, and had also starred in shoots for Victoria’s Secret and Maxim.
Her body was found by police during a welfare check in August 2018.
Although Harris tried to claim in court that he was “high out of his mind” on ketamine and didn’t mean to kill Christina, he was convicted of first-degree murder and other charges.
He’s now serving life behind bars without the possibility of parole.
BATHTUB DEATH
Former Playmate and mum-of-two Cassandra Lynn Hensley was found dead in a bathtub in January 2014 aged just 34.
The married model – who was crowned Playmate Miss February 2006 – had reportedly been binging on cocaine and booze in the hours before her death in California.
A representative for her family told E! News at the time: “It is with a heavy heart that we share the news of Cassandra Hensley’s passing from a tragic and accidental overdose.
“We are all very grateful for the outpouring of support from friends, family, and fans.”
As well as her two children, Cassandra left behind husband Gary – who was further devastated to learn his wife had spent the night before her death with another man.
HOTEL PLUNGE
In one of the most horrific incidents to hit Playboy, former Playmate Stephanie Adams plunged to her death from a New York hotel with her seven-year-old son in May 2018.
The 47-year-old – who was embroiled in a nasty custody battle with her ex – pushed little Vincent out of a 25th-floor window first, before jumping after him, police said.
Their bodies were later found on a second-floor landing in the hotel’s rear courtyard.
The double tragedy – which left fellow former Playmates “devastated” – was ruled a homicide-suicide by the New York City medical examiner, according to reports at the time.
Model-turned-author Stephanie – who starred as Playboy magazine’s Miss November 1992 – also wrote self-help books and ran an organic beauty products company during her life.
“Style and looks don’t mean lack of brains, sweetheart!” she once told the New York Post.
