Secrets of Playboy: Models Felt They Had to Sleep with Hef to Land Playmate of the Year

Television By TooFab Staff |
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"Not every single one of them did ... but I think a lot of people felt like they had to," said Holly Madison.

Landing Playmate of the Year is a big deal for any aspiring model hoping to break into the industry, but many felt they had to sleep with Hugh Hefner to get the title, per A&E's docuseries.

On Monday's new hour of "Secrets of Playboy," a group of former models and magazine insiders claimed a few PMOY wannabes had to do some "pretty wild things up in the bedroom" to secure their spot.

"When I first arrived, it seemed like most of the women coming through who were testing for Playmate felt like they had to sleep with him to get Playmate of the Year," said Holly Madison, who lived in the mansion while dating Hef from 2001-2008.

"Not every single one of them did, there were a few exceptions," she added, "But I think a lot of people felt like they had to."

"In order to get Playmate of the Year, you had to do some pretty wild things up in the bedroom with Hef and his friends," added PJ Masten, who was a former Bunny and manager of the Playboy club. "You had to vie for that position."

While Hefner claimed before his death that he wasn't the sole voice in selecting the Playmate of the Year -- adding the editors of the magazine made the final selection -- his ex-girlfriend and former Playmate of the Month Sondra Theodore said otherwise.

"Ultimately, Hef is the one who chose Playmate of the year. Was it a fair competition? I don't think so," she said on the docuseries. "The girls did a lot to win that favor and he knew that they would so he usually played that up. I know he's the one that made the final decision."

Former Playmate and Playboy head of promotions from 1973 to 1983 Miki Garcia shared her own experience trying to land the coveted Playmate of the Year spot back in 1974.

"If you became Playmate of the Year, you got more fame, you got more money, you got more power. Who didn't want that?" said Garcia, who claimed she was promised PMOY before photo editor Marilyn Grabowski told her Hef wanted to meet her.

"I was worried. I had been asked to go the Mansion. I avoided it, but I really had no more excuses left, so I went with her," she continued. "I was extremely nervous because I just simply knew that if I didn't go to bed with him, I wasn't going to get Playmate of the Year. I mean, I had that in my gut."

"I just thought, 'If he asks and I say no, there goes that money, out the door and everything I worked for,'" said Garcia. "What a joke, it comes to that."

Garcia claimed that when she showed up to the mansion, Grabowski told her she needed to go speak with Hefner.

"I knew what that meant and I said, 'I don't think so' and she said, 'I'm telling you right now, it's now or never, I mean it. Go talk to him,'" she claimed. "I knew it meant that I had to go over there and beg for that Playmate of the Year title and be vulnerable to him. I knew that. He didn't have to say it."

Garcia said Hefner was unwrapping presents at the time and he opened up a large dildo, before giving her a sly smile. That, she said, "just turned me off so much inside" and she decided against any one-on-one with him after that. She said she and Marilyn then returned to the Playboy offices and met up with all the other hopefuls, where Grabowski announced Cindi Wood would be PMOY.

"That was my first business lesson, so to speak, from Hugh Hefner," said Garcia, who added, "I'm not saying that Cindi slept with him. All I knew is I didn't like anyone putting me in a corner. I hate corners."

As the doc noted, Grabowski has called the allegations "totally untrue."

New episodes of "Secrets of Playboy" drop Monday on A&E.