Crystal Hefner says her experience in Playboy Mansion was 'complicated and conflicting': 'I'm ready to tell you what it was really like'

Crystal Hefner is ready to tell the full story about her life in the Playboy Mansion, sharing in an Instagram post that she'll be writing a memoir about her experience as the third wife and widow of Hugh Hefner.

"I was part of Hugh Hefner's world for over a decade. ⁣By the time I left it had been a third of my life. I was with him through wild times, calm times, and all the times in between up until the day he passed away in September 2017," she wrote. "I chose to be more private over the years because I'm an introvert at heart and while the mansion in some ways was a sanctuary in other ways I was exploited like never before. ⁣"

The 35-year-old has been relatively quiet about her life as Hugh's girlfriend and wife, as well as her introduction to the Playboy Mansion in 2009. Throughout the years since Hugh's death, however, Crystal has become increasingly more outspoken about their life together and the ways in which she's coping and becoming her "true" self as Hugh's widow. Now, she's ready to put pen to paper to share more than she has before.

"I’ve been on the fence about telling my story because it’s complicated and conflicting in ways. But I think the best way to tell it is to be 100% honest and transparent so my lessons can hopefully help you too," she wrote. "I will tell you about my life and how my upbringing and years leading up to the Halloween party where I met Hef was the perfect storm that whisked me through those gates."

Crystal explained that she's worked with numerous therapists to "make sense" of all that she's been through since her time living in the mansion. And although she's shared parts of her wellness journey when it comes to bettering her physical and mental health, telling her story will be the next step in her healing.

"I’m ready to tell you what it was really like. How my personal path lead me to Hef's 'shangri la' and what I wish every woman would know," she explained. "I will share how power, greed, narcissism, and a girls quest to feel loved, powerful, important and have a sense of belonging led her down a dangerous path. More than anything, I longed for freedom from what I found myself in. And after experiencing the grueling opposite for ten years, I finally found it."

While Crystal went on to say that she's "still trying to heal from what I went through," she has been able to use her platform to open up about various things going on in her life today, including finding new love with her boyfriend Ryan Malaty.

"The story of my life, being part of Playboy and Hef's world, and the last piece of the puzzle yet to be placed is coming soon," she wrote.

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