Crystal Hefner admits she was never ‘in love’ with late husband Hugh

Crystal Hefner, who was by Hugh Hefner’s side in the final years of his life, admitted she was never “in love” with the controversial Playboy founder.

Ahead of the release of her memoir, titled “Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself,” Crystal explained that she had love for the magazine publisher, but their relationship came with a “price.”

“I realized I was dealing with a really big power imbalance,” Crystal, 37, told People Thursday.

“It seemed like a world of success and fantasy, but everyone’s having to sleep with an 80-year-old. There’s a price,” she went on. “Everything has a price.”

Crystal was just 21 when she was invited to stay at the Playboy Mansion in October 2008.

Crystal Hefner is speaking out about her relationship with Hugh Hefner — seven years after his death. Elayne Lodge/PEI

A few months later, she and Hugh entered a relationship.

The model became Hugh’s third wife when they tied the knot in 2012 and they remained married until his death at the age of 91 in 2017.

“At the time I thought I was on top,” she said of the early days of their relationship.

The former Playmate admitted she was never “in love” with the late media mogul. Crystal Hefner/Instagram “Everyone’s having to sleep with an 80-year-old. There’s a price,” she said of her time in the mansion. Crystal Hefner/Instagram

“I thought, wow, if I just like everything that he likes and do all the things that he wants me to do, then I’m the favorite. And I was, but I just lost myself in the process,” she added.

Elsewhere in the interview, the “Girls Next Door” star said the name of her upcoming tell-all was derived from Hugh’s directive to his wife.

“I want you to continue my legacy going forward…and I want to remind you to only say good things about me,” she recalled him telling her.

Crystal was invited to move into the Playboy Mansion in 2008. Elayne Lodge/PEI The pair were married from 2012 until he died in 2017. Getty Images for Playboy

The former Playmate also got real about the dirty conditions within the famed Holmby Hills property.

“This place doesn’t really get cleaned that well and there’s mold, and it just felt just kind of run down and gross after a while. Too, too many parties. It was worn out,” Crystal said.

---

For more Page Six you love …

Listen to our weekly “We Hear” podcast Subscribe to our daily newsletter Shop our exclusive merch

---

“I feel like I was constantly crying for everything and everybody there,” she continued.

“All those animals were so depressed and sad-looking. It was all an illusion. I don’t even know if I was happy, to be honest.”

Her book, “Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself,” will be released this month. HMH Foundation/MEGA

Last year, Crystal shamelessly revealed that the late publishing mogul was taking so much Viagra to maintain his erection in the years before his death that he went deaf in one ear.

“Hef always said he’d rather be deaf and still able to have sex,” she told the Daily Mail in August.

“Weird,” she added.