The former Girls Next Door star is pregnant and expecting her first child with her boyfriend of over a year, she confirmed to TMZ.
Karissa—who dated Hugh Hefner while living in the Playboy Mansion from 2008 until 2010 alongside her twin sister Kristina Shannon—shared that she's two months along and recently had her first ultrasound to "confirm everything is healthy and normal."
The 36-year-old—who lives in Michigan and hopes to pivot to real estate—had previously detailed her and Kristina's joint decision to leave Hollywood after living in the Playboy Mansion and starring on the final season of E!'s The Girls Next Door.
“It really crumbled who we are,” she told People last April, sharing that their Christian faith was frowned upon during their time in the mansion. “Our believing in Jesus became a big problem, and losing that was just really big trauma that we dealt with."
“Kristina and I decided to move,” Karissa continued. “We didn't know where to go, so we decided to go back to where we were born and leave L.A. We sold the beauty salon we owned at the time, and said, 'Let's get the hell out of here and live a simple life. Let's just start healing.’”
After a brief stint in Las Vegas, the twins made their way to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where they were able "to find out who we are and just be selfish, try and live normally."
"I feel like this is when we really grew up,” Karissa explained at the time, with Kristina adding, “We're still the playful twins who did Playboy, but we care about other things now. We are all about organics. Everything we eat, all our food is organic. All our water's alkaline, our sheets are organic."
And, while they said they were subjected to "bullying" by some of their Girls Next Door costars, they are still able to look back at their time in the mansion with some appreciation.
“We always say Playboy will always be a part of our lives," Karissa explained. We were Playboy fans and we still are Playboy fans. Even though it turned out to be very traumatic for us, there were also a lot of high points."
Keep reading for more of the most important women in Hugh Hefner's life...
The 31-year-old model was married to Hefner at the time of his death. The couple tied the knot in 2012 after meeting when she covered the December 2009 issue of Playboy. Harris was Hefner's third wife.
Conrad is Hefner's second wife. The couple got married in 1989 before separating in 1998. They stayed married for their sons—Marston and Cooper Hefner—until 2010 when they finally filed for divorce.
Williams was Hefner's first wife. The couple married in 1949 and divorced in 1959. They share two children together, his 64-year-old daughter, Christie Hefner, and his 62-year-old son, David Hefner.
The Playboy mogul's one and only daughter—whom he shared with his first wife, Millie—Christie worked for the company for 27 years and held the title of CEO for 21 years.
The blonde bombshell was featured on the cover of the very first issue of Playboy in 1953. Selling around 50,000 copies, the issue catapulted the magazine and Hefner—who started it with a mere $8,000 loan—to success. In fact, he cared so much for Monroe, he will be buried beside her at the Westwood Village Memorial Park in Los Angeles, Calif.
It's safe to say Hefner made Pamela Anderson a household name when he featured her on the October 1989 cover, and many people would go on to say that she was one of his favorite models of all time. In fact, she graced the final nude issue of Playboy—her 14th cover for the magazine—in 2016, before the company reinstated nudity earlier this year. Anderson couldn't control her tears upon hearing the news of his death, penning an emotional poem in his honor.
Hefner and the former Girls Next Door star shared a special bond as the model moved into the Playboy mansion at just 18 years old. They dated from 2004 to 2008. However, following their split, Wilkinson went on to marry Hank Baskett, and Hefner actually helped host the wedding at the mansion, sitting second row to support his ex-girlfriend's happy ending. "Hef changed my life," Wilkinson told E! News in a statement. "He made me the person I am today."
Another star of Girls Next Door, Madison was known as Hef's "main girlfriend" from 2001 to 2008. In fact, in 2008, the Playboy mogul stated he believed they would be together for the rest of his life. Unfortunately, he never thought that he would marry her, and they broke up shortly after. In 2015, Madison released her book Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny, which criticized Hefner and the whole Playboy lifestyle.
Though they lost contact in recent years, Hefner dated Marquardt from 2002 to 2009. She also starred alongside Wilkinson and Madison on Girls Next Door.
Hef dated Benton from 1969 to 1976 after the two met while co-hosting Playboy After Dark together. She would go on to appear on the cover of Playboy four times.
O'Connor worked as Hefner's secretary and the "mansion mother" for over 40 years. When she passed away in 2013, he tweeted, "Mary passed away today. We loved her more than words can say."