Anyone who thinks of music when they think of music channels hasn’t experienced the 2000s. At the beginning of the new millennium, MTV, VIVA and VIVA 2 were flooded with a myriad of show formats such as Pimp My Ride, neXt and Punk’d. The reality series The Girls of the Playboy Mansion was also particularly celebrated the everyday life of Playboy model Kendra Wilkinson and her colleagues behind the hedges of Hugh Hefner’s infamous mansion.
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Kendra Wilkinson (l.) with Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt in The Girls of the Playboy Mansion
What amused many at the time as an innocent trashy pleasure, was part of a nightmare for Wilkinson, as she recognizes today. She spoke to People about her unhealthy lifestyle on the show and years of depression that followed.
The Girls of the Playboy Mansion damaged Kenra Wilkinson’s life
In the interview, Wilkinson explained:
I felt deep regret after the series. I had depression before and during the series. I drank a lot. I was there for the parties [….]. Not because I wanted to be with Hugh Hefner.
Wilkinson, now 38, said she could no longer explain why she had sex with Hefner at such a young age. Even decisions such as breast enlargement or bleaching her hair are a mystery to her today. Life in the Playboy Villa unsettled her: “I hated my breasts, my body, my face. I ended up hating myself. […] Playboy completely screwed up my life“.
The Girls of the Playboy Mansion, originally called The Girls Next Door, first aired between 2005 and 2010. Wilkinson left in 2008. In the wake of the Playboy series, she appeared in her own reality formats Kendra, Kendra on Top and Kendra Sells Hollywood. The shows followed Wilkinson’s life as a wife and mother, and later also her career as a real estate agent. But when reality success finally failed to materialize and her marriage fell apart, The battle for her mental health caught up with her.
Discovery+
Kendra Wilkinson in Kendra Sells Hollywood
“I died of depression“, she tells People Magazine about a panic attack in which the long-term consequences of her lifestyle finally culminated in 2023. “I was at the end of my life and became psychotic. […] Sometime I looked at my ex-husband and said, ‘Take me to the hospital.‘”
The Girls of the Playboy Mansion is a chilling example for Kendra Wilkinson
It took weeks of regular therapy for her wounds to finally heal. “Today I feel like myself again for the first time in a long time“, says Wilkinson. The look back at her Playboy days now serves as a deterrent example: “My daughter shouldn’t be sexualized like me. As a mother, I wonder what happened that made me want to date an older man when I was 18. What brought me to this point?“She realized that her depression couldn’t be beaten alone. And thanks to her therapy, she finally feels strong again.
Dealing with depression properly is the one lesson that can be learned from Kendra Wilkinson’s example. The other is how to properly deal with the dubious innocence of reality formats like The Girls of the Playboy Mansion. VIVA would have preferred to stick to music.
Telephone counseling: If you feel affected by the topic, contact the telephone counseling service immediately. On the free hotline 0800-1110-111 or 0800-1110-222 you can get help from advisors who have in many cases been able to show ways out of seemingly hopeless situations.
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