COUPLES'I Am So Lucky': Crystal Hefner Gushes Over Boyfriend James Ward After Hugh Hefner's Death
Crystal Hefner gushed over new boyfriend James Ward after husband Hugh Hefner's death, saying, 'I am so lucky.'
The search for "The One" is over!
Crystal Hefner has finally found the love she always hoped for in James Ward.
Crystal Hefner gushed about her new romance.
"Things feel healthy. I am so lucky,” the 38-year-old model said, confirming her new romance with Ward after posting their recent Cook Island trip on Instagram. “I feel accepted and more myself than ever before”
“With James, my feelings are valued and validated,” she told People. "I am seen and I am heard."
Following her traumatic marriage to Hugh Hefner, who died at 91 years old in 2017, the TV personality didn't expect to find another man to love until the 41-year-old marine biologist came into her life.
While Crystal was in Hawaii, she and James were introduced by mutual friends in April, sparking the beginning of a new chapter.
The model gushed about her new romance.
“I’ve done a lot of healing that was very necessary since the mansion,” she told Us Weekly. “I didn’t know what it was like to be in a healthy relationship. Sometimes, it feels foreign. But I believe that as long as you keep working on it, your brain kind of rewires itself, and you can be in a really happy, healed place.”
Hugh Hefner and Crystal Hefner were married for nearly five years.
Elsewhere in the interview, Crystal said her new love affair is way different from what she and the late Playboy founder had.
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- Crystal Hefner Still 'Sees' Hugh's Son Marston as 'Family' Despite Drama Over Will: 'He Has a Lot of Pain and Hurt'
- 10 Revelations Made About the Playboy Mansion: From Shocking Group S-- to Old Men's Hookups With Youngsters
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“The relationship with Hef was, it was more one-sided. Like I always wanted to make sure that he was happy and that he had everything he needed,” she said.
“I’m such a people pleaser, so, I always was that way toward Hef, like always people pleasing, making sure he was OK. The mansion and the world revolved around Hef. So, this is the first time where I feel it’s very reciprocal,” she continued.
Crystal Hefner said her marriage to Hugh Hefner was 'one-sided.'
The former Playmate shared she has spent the past seven years recovering from what she described as an emotionally abusive relationship, which she wrote about it in her bestselling memoir, Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself, released this year.
In the same interview, James, for his part, shared he didn't know much about Crystal’s past, let alone knew anything about the Playboy Mansion.
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“It’s been a really big point of pride for me to nourish and encourage the next chapter as opposed to really dwelling on the past,” he said. “I’m happy to leave that chapter as a profound but closed chapter.”
