Hugh Hefner’s widow has explained the sad reason why she thinks the Playboy Mansion owner chose his infamous lifestyle.

Crystal Harris married the magazine publisher in 2012 when she was 26 and he was 86.

She was Hefner’s third and final wife until he died in 2017 and earlier this year, she released a tell-all memoir detailing her life in the notorious house.

Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself outlined the misogyny and objectification she’d experienced in the supposed ‘glamorous’ lifestyle.

During an appearance on ITV’s This Morning, Harris opened up about the grubbiness of the Playboy Mansion and how she has been looking at the ‘psychology’ of life there.

Hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary also asked her about how Hefner ‘ended up where he ended up’.

Harris explained that once she left the Mansion she ‘went into therapy for about five years’ and realised the place ‘messed her up more’ than she thought it had.

Crystal Harris was Hefner’s third wife. (Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Playboy)

“In a way I felt sorry for him when I was there, I felt sorry for him. And ever since I knew him he was a kind of lost little boy that created this lifestyle to help his inner wounds.” she said.

“But it never helped and yeah, he was sad.”

She went on to claim that Hefner told her that he ‘didn’t really get love as a child’ and ‘a lot of the girls he liked didn’t like him back’.

“So I think that was his way to prove them all wrong or get back at people, I’m not really sure.” she added.

As former Bunny Izabella St James has also spoken about, while Hefner might have supposedly created this lifestyle for his ‘inner wounds’, it wasn’t exactly good for people’s health.

Her memoir opened up about life in the Mansion. (Raymond Hall/GC Images)

Harris said that she ended up getting ‘very sick’ and when the Mansion was checked for mould, it turned out there was ‘toxic mould everywhere’.

“It ended up being like a $2million remediation at the house and it’s bad, it was very bad,” she added.

St. James also described how the mattresses on the beds ‘were disgusting – old, worn and stained’.

“Hef was used to dirty carpets. The one in his bedroom had not been changed for years, and things became significantly worse when Holly Madison moved into his room with him as Girlfriend No. 1 soon after I moved in, bringing her two dogs.” she said.

St. James also claimed the dogs weren’t house trained and would just ‘do their business’ on the carpet.

One man known for going ‘big’ at his house all year round had to, of course, be Mr Hugh Hefner.

And at the Playboy Mansion, it seems Christmas was just as mega – with the American magazine publisher apparently being rather particular about things.

He was known for throwing his legendary Playboy parties and the bunnies knew the festive season was important for him, so kept up that extravagance.

Former girlfriend Bridget Marquardt had previously said: “Hef definitely has an expectation of what he wants the grounds to look like at Christmas time.”

As well as the Mansions’ massive lawn becoming a tobogganing slope and there being a ‘Panty Chandelier’, there was also the creation of Snowman Hefner.

Back in The Girls Next Door reality series (which focused on the lives of his girlfriends at the Mansion) we got to see how Christmas time went down.

With the big old snow slide installed, the girls got creative with the snow to create their own Hef.

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Holly Madison explained: “We built a snow Hef, which we surprised him with.

“We pulled out a smoking jacket and a pipe and a hat, and we made a snow Hef complete with a penis.”

But the bunnies didn’t leave little snow Hef hanging out in the breeze – they made sure he was covered up with a robe and hat, of course.

The businessman, who passed away in 2017, was pretty made up with his little Snowman replica and posed for pics alongside him.

And yes, you did read that correctly earlier, part of the Christmas decorations included keeping up the infamous Panty Chandelier.

A long-time installation at the house, the golden chandelier had women’s underwear dangling from its arms in the bedroom.

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Hefner’s wife Crystal showed it off above the Christmas tree and said on the show: “Hef asked if I wanted to take them down but I said we can just leave them up there because that’s what this place is known for; good times and panty-less people.”

In the living room, which doubled as a ‘movie room’, there was an absolute whopper of a Christmas tree – with ’35 boxes’ of LED lights.

Here, they’d cuddle up for festive films and while Crystal preferred Elf, Hef was a lover of the classics.

“Hef’s favourite Christmas movie is Miracle on 34th Street. Possibly ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’, or possibly ‘Christmas Story’,” she said.

Ah Christmas time in the Playboy Mansion, how magical that must’ve been.

Oh, what a nightmare when your multiple ‘girlfriends’ start getting off with your staff.

It must be so hard to keep track when you’ve got so many women that are ‘yours’ as well as people to serve your every, other, need.

Jokes aside, I guess it could be heartbreaking if your ‘girlfriends’ are unfaithful. And apparently, Hugh Hefner’s were.

The late magazine publisher was the founder of Playboy and lived in his Playboy mansion in Los Angeles until he died in 2017.

In his famous home, ‘Hef’ lived with his famous ‘Bunnies’. There were parties and events, from tennis to drinks receptions, which celebrities would often attend.

So unsurprisingly, Hefner had plenty of staff to keep the place ticking away.

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And now one of his former butlers has spilled some of the tea.

Bryant Horowitz was the robe-wearing man’s butler from 1997 until 2016 and confirmed a rumour during a recent appearance on the Girls Next Level podcast.

Host Holly Madison said: “I heard one of the girlfriends was having an affair with one of the butlers and they had sex on the tiger-skin couch.”

And ever the gentleman, Horowitz said: “Yes, that is true – but I’m not naming any names.”

He was also asked if there was any truth in the rumour that one of Hefner’s ‘girlfriends’ had an affair with a security guard.

Confirming it, the butler said: “That also is true. There have been instances of that going on but those people did not last 18 years.”

At the tycoon’s parties, staff were totally forbidden from ‘fraternising’ with either residents or guests at the Playboy Mansion.

Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Playboy

Horowitz said: “There was a pretty stern don’t fraternise with the girls rule. That was the big rule, that you don’t fraternise with the guests.”

But that didn’t necessarily stop the flirting from the Playmates and girlfriends, with Horowitz explaining: “Sometimes if they had drinks they would be coming in [to the kitchen] and things like that but I would try to remain as professional as possible and keep my distance.”

He does admit that he couldn’t completely help himself from getting somewhat involved though.

Getting close to the party guests was just too tempting for Horowitz as he added: “There was one actress there that wanted to date me, and we did for a couple of months… but not a playmate.

“I was there for 18 years. If anything had happened I wouldn’t have been there that long.”