Many people know reality star Kendra Wilkinson from her time as one of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s many girlfriends. It was during that time that she starred on her first reality show, The Girls Next Door, alongside Hefner’s two other girlfriends. After a marriage to a former NFL player and two children, Kendra is now reexamining her time at the mansion and her relationship with Hefner. After dealing with mental health struggles connected to her Playboy past, she realized she wants better for her daughter.
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Kendra recalled her 'crazy' decision to move into the Playboy mansion.
In an exclusive interview with People, Kendra opened up about her past.
"I was young, fun and dumb. I made a crazy choice to live with an older man," she said, reflecting on the decision she made at 18 to go live at the Playboy mansion with someone six decades older than she was. "I got into deep regret [afterward]. I got to that point where I started hating myself. ‘Why did I have sex with Hugh Hefner?’ I got to that point where I started hating myself."
Parenting changed her outlook on her past.
After her divorce from former NFL player Hank Baskett, she focused on parenting her two kids, Hank IV and Alijah Mary. It was parenting that forced her to start thinking about her former life.
"I look back at what happened to where I felt like I had to date an older man at 18. What drove me to that place, and why did I choose to do that?" she shared with People. "These are things I’m trying to correct in my parenting to my daughter. What can I do to show her that she’s more than that?"
One thing she knows is that she wants something better for her 9-year-old daughter.
"At the end of the day, I don’t want my daughter sexualized at a young age like that," Kendra confessed. "I had to dig deep. I had to really dig deep into my own life and be like, ‘Holy crap,’ at what age did I start to get sexualized and why was it completely okay for me to move in the mansion and not choose college instead?"
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Her mental health suffered, which forced her to confront her previous choices.
In September, Kendra suffered a panic attack that landed her in the hospital and led her to begin taking antipsychotic medication. After that, she realized she really had to confront her time at the Playboy mansion head on.
"I had to open up those dark questions like, ‘Why did I do this? 'What really happened to me?’ ‘Is this bad? Did something bad happen to me? Was it a bad thing to do to live at the Playboy mansion?’" she asked.
Kendra is living life for her kids now.
Ultimately, Kendra is ready to create a new narrative for herself.
"Hugh Hefner lived his life. That was his life. I’m not going to sit here and protect him while I'm focusing on raising two kids," she said. "Can we not include Hef in my life moving forward?"
