Karissa Shannon rose to fame as a Playboy Playmate-turned-“Girls Next Door” star, but life looks quite “normal” for her these days.
In an exclusive interview with Page Six, Shannon — who is now pregnant and engaged — told us she “worked hard” to heal in order to achieve what she feels so many take for granted.
“I was overstimulated and overexposed for so long that I just yearned for something normal,” explained Shannon, who spent two years at Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion before moving to Las Vegas and finally settling down in her native Michigan.
Shannon, 37, has since met the man of her dreams, who shocked her with a “fairytale” proposal last month on her birthday following a romantic dinner at upscale steakhouse Highlands Detroit.
“We were right on the water, 71 floors up, watching the sunset,” she shared.
“We were literally in Michigan, where I was born, facing Canada, where he was born. And there is a beautiful river separating the two.”
Shannon has chosen to keep her husband-to-be’s identity’s under wraps because “privacy is peace, and privacy is power.”
However, she did tell us her “simple, blue-collar guy” is 44, from Windsor, Ontario, loves hockey, does yoga and played a “big part in helping [her] have better drinking habits.”
But above all, her favorite thing about her fiancé and the father of her baby boy, who is due in April, is that he “accepts” her for exactly who she is, which includes her “past.”
“He’s sweet, and he loves me deeply and unconditionally. He’s quick to defend me in comments [on social media] and supports my career and all my projects. He’s proud of who I am,” she marveled, noting that the two are also madly in love with their puppy, Arlo.
Shannon recently launched an account with OhChat, an AI-powered, adult-themed platform that lets her be in “control” of how much of her “virtual twin” she chooses to share with the public.
She’s also working on a documentary with investigative journalist Lisa Guerrero to continue shedding light on the alleged sexual abuse she and her twin sister, Kristina Shannon, were subjected to while living with Hefner from ages 18 to 20 as two of his many girlfriends.
In fact, Karissa has vowed to raise her son, whom she will name Genesis, to be “opposite” of the late Playboy founder.
“I want him to be opposite of whatever Hef was portraying,” Karissa said of her plans to use her past to propel the way she parents.
“I want him to be a gentleman, and I want him to have manners, and I want him to lead with his heart.”
