Las Vegas Weekly

November 16, 2009 · 12:09 PM

Photo Gallery: Hef’s No. 1 girlfriend Crystal Harris bares all her secrets

By Robin Leach

Crystal Harris at The Playboy Store in Caesars Palace.

Photo: TVT

Blonde bombshell Crystal Harris says, as Hugh Hefner’s No. 1 girlfriend, that if he asked her to marry him, she would say yes! “My relationship with Hef is a lot stronger than the previous relationships he’s had. Our interests are the same, and we like doing the same things. He doesn’t seem any older to me because he’s like a kid that never grew up.”

Crystal, 23, has been dating the 82-year-old Playboy tycoon since Halloween of last year. She told me in an exclusive interview at Caesars Palace this weekend: “I’m living a dream come true fantasy world. My life has changed dramatically this past year. I had no idea what I wanted to be. No idea what I wanted to do. From the moment on that I met Hef, he gave me guidance. He made me more confidence. I owe everything to him. I’ve learned to be myself in a great year of growth.

“I hope our personal relationship stays the same for a long time. I am really very happy now. I want it to last a long time. We’ve only just begun it. It feels good. We’re both on top of the world with all those feelings that every boy and girl feels giddy about in the first months of love.

“When Hef calls me his No. 1 girl, I think what he means is our relationship is a lot stronger than previous relationships he’s had. You know he’d come out of a divorce, and after eight years with Holly, he didn’t want to get married. But we’re both happy now, and it can stay that way for a long time. It would be very unexpected if he wanted to marry me, but if he asked, my answer would definitely be yes! I would marry Hef! I don’t think he would want children though -- I don’t think I want children.

“We’re on cloud nine -- all those feelings of excitement that any normal people in love feel -- very content and very happy. And after a year, we’re only in the beginning of the relationship. There was an instant attraction for us being on the same wavelength with psychology. He was so humble and easy to talk with, which is one of the things I love about him. That had a lot to do with it, plus the fact I’m a blonde with a shapely figure. But it was brains over beauty this time around!”

The Lake Havasu, Ariz., native was at The Playboy Store in The Forum Shops at Caesars Palace for her first official meet-and-greet with fans. It also was a promotional visit to sign copies of the December issue of Playboy, which features her all-nude, five-page layout and centerfold as Miss December.

She and I chatted before she began her nonstop, three-hour session with the line of fans. Crystal continued: “I was nervous meeting him for the first time. (Crystal was in her final semester at San Diego State University majoring in psychology with no idea what to do next.) I’d gone with my girlfriends to the Halloween party at The Playboy Mansion. I was in a saucy French maid’s outfit. But when we started talking, it was so natural, I knew right then. He invited me to stay over, so I did. It just felt completely normal. The next day, he invited me to stay over again. I did. Fortunately, I had some clothes in my car, but I went back three days later to San Diego for more clothes. A week later, I returned to San Diego to get all my stuff, and within two weeks of meeting him, I’d moved in full time. We haven’t been apart since.

Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

Hugh Hefner and Crystal Harris celebrate Hef's 83rd birthday at the Palms.

“It’s been an amazing year together. I went from being a San Diego college student to being on a hit E! TV show to the Miss December Playmate to being Hef’s No. 1 girlfriend. We’ve just finished the new season of The Girls Next Door, and I’m in every episode. So now that we’ve finished, I’m hoping to go back to school in Los Angeles to finish my studies. Really, though, the TV show, the pictorial and Playboy work is my profession now.

“I don’t take any of this for granted because I didn’t grow up a rich girl. I want to be a good Playmate who is a good role model. The show has given me the opportunity to explore different sides of myself that I didn‘t know I had. I’ve started a little singing, and I might want to keep doing that. So I’m having a lot of fun.”

Crystal, who is about to go on a snowboarding trip with her girlfriends -- and not Hef -- added: “I still get to do the things I enjoy -- charity work, Padres baseball, Lakers basketball, Chargers football and shopping. It helps that there are two other girls -- the Shannon twins -- with him when I’m not there. He’s not on his own. At the beginning, there was a little tension between us. They got a little territorial when I arrived. But now that’s all gone, and we’re all in it together. I can do my own things. It’s all a fun environment.”

Photo: Denise Truscello/WireImage

The Shannon twins (Karissa and Kristina), Ida Ljungqvist, Hugh Hefner, Crystal Harris and George Maloof.

I asked Crystal to look at her nude pictorial again and comment on the December issue that features Dancing With the Stars contestant and model Joanna Krupa on the cover. She told me: “Hef didn’t know about this, even though I’d already moved into the mansion. I started the ball rolling myself. I’d see all these photos of girls who wanted to do test audition shots. I decided to go ask the photo editor if I could test.

“It was the first time I’d been photographed nude. I was very nervous at first, but the photographer, Stephen Wayda, put me at ease and made me feel very comfortable. But when Hef dropped by to see how it was going, it was such a surprise, I actually jumped up and put my robe on! It turned out to be very movie star glamorous, very sensual. It certainly wasn’t a goal or an ambition of mine. I’d never thought about it. I didn’t even think I could do it, but I’m glad it turned out so beautifully.”

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

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