Former Playboy model Kendra Wilkinson is pushing back against the critics who say she hasn’t aged well, noting the commentary highlights a glaring double standard.
“I feel like it’s unfair that I get called out. I mean we all get called out. All of us women,” Wilkinson, 40, said at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on Wednesday, March 11. “More women than men get called out for aging and I think that’s the truth.”
“We’re trapped. We’re supposed to be 21 forever or something,” the reality star — who became famous while dating the late Hugh Hefner and starring on The Girls Next Door — told TMZ.
Wilkinson was only 18 when she moved into the iconic Playboy Mansion and has since embarked on a new chapter of life, now a mom of two working as a real estate agent. (She shares kids Hank Jr., 16, and Alijah, 11, with ex-husband Hank Baskett.)
“We have to start really breaking that stigma down and really start to make progress in our minds about aging women,” Wilkinson said of the ageism that is especially prevalent in Hollywood.
When asked why women are expected to stay frozen in time, Wilkinson speculated that it’s due to the adult film industry. “It all has to do with sexual satisfaction. Sexual fantasies,” she said. “I think that it has to do a lot with porn.”
The Kendra on Top star said that she’s come a long way since her Playboy days and she’s learned how to brush off rude comments calling her “old” or claiming that she’s “aging poorly.”
Wilkinson said she is embracing this new and “different phase of my life” which means shedding her old identity.
As for the haters that have an issue with her evolving, she said they can simply avoid her social media pages, adding, “If you don’t like to look at me, don’t follow me.”
Wilkinson declared that she’s feeling better than ever because she’s found peace and happiness within. “I feel the best I’ve ever felt in my entire life right now and I’m bigger. I’m older,” she shared, quipping, “I haven’t washed my hair in a week!”
Crystal Harris, Hefner’s wife from 2012 until his 2017 death, showed love to Wilkinson’s Instagram post on March 8 echoing those sentiments. “Cheers to those who grow and move on to the life waiting for us. ❤️,” Harris wrote.
Former Playboy bunny Jessica Hall also replied. “Yesss my friend! You are just beautiful at every stage in your life and as I tell my own daughter what makes you most beautiful is your heart. ❤️”
