Crystal Hefner Opens Up to Stepson Marston About 'Hard' Time In Playboy Mansion with Hef

While catching up with her stepson, Marston Hefner, on her new podcast, Beneath The Surface With Crystal Hefner, she shared what drew her to the late Playboy founder and the often complicated dynamic they shared over the course of their 10-year marriage.

"It was exciting. I lived in San Diego. I had never seen a celebrity in my life, and I got invited to go to a party and I submitted my photos and I honestly didn't think I was pretty enough to go," Crystal tells Marston. "I was like, they'll never pick me, but they did, and I went up [to the Playboy mansion] and I remember a swarm of people came from the house to an empty cabana."

Describing herself as an introvert during the episode, Crystal said it was her "super extroverted" friend she attended the party with that pointed Crystal in Hugh's direction.

"[My friend] was like, 'That's Hugh Hefner.' I saw everyone flocking to him and it was just sparkly and twinkly and he was very nice," she added.

As for what attracted her to Hugh, Crystal said he was simply "magnetic."

"He was very magnetic and that's how I felt," Crystal recalled. "I felt like I was in this magnetic pull."

While she agreed with Marston that Hugh was in fact "awesome," she also acknowledged that there were parts of her relationship with the entrepreneur that were "hard," telling the 33-year-old that she feels "conflicted" when looking back on her time at the Playboy Mansion.

Weighing in on his late father's character, Marston applauded Hugh's generosity, sharing that the ultimate bachelor left behind a sizable inheritance for both Crystal and his children, including Marston's siblings, Cooper, Christie and David.

"I get it completely," Marston said. "We were so fortunate. What he left us, the inheritance, he didn't have to do that. That says something about his character too."

"Yeah, he wanted to make sure everybody was good," Crystal agreed.

Marston added, "He really did. Especially you. He really wanted to make sure you were gonna be happy and safe, and you were gonna have a good life."

Elsewhere in the interview, Crystal reflected on life after the mansion, telling Marston that she's happier now that she's out, due in part to the freedom she now has outside of the Playboy walls.

"I feel like I was very restricted," she recalled. "I think a lot of it was very hard for me, because by the time your dad got older, he didn't want me out past 6:00 p.m., so I was home before dark most days."

Crystal continued, "It was hard and it did feel a little bit controlling, and I feel like it did take me a while to understand him, specifically his personality."

The 37-year-old model said that over time, she ultimately did come to an understanding of Hugh during their marriage and even more so in the years since his death.

Crystal began dating Hugh, who was 60 years her senior, in 2009. The pair got engaged in December 2010, but Crystal called off the engagement five days before their planned wedding in June 2011.

The pair would go on to reconcile in 2012 and ultimately married, and remained so until his death at age 91 in September 2017.