Eugena Washington

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Eugena Washington
Eugena Washingtion Beauty Shoot ShotbyGiftedMindset5769 r.jpg
Washington in 2020
Playboy centerfold appearance
December 2015
Preceded by Rachel Harris
Succeeded by Amberleigh West
Playboy Playmate of the Year
2016
Preceded by Dani Mathers
Succeeded by Brook Power
Personal details
BornOctober 8 [1]
Columbia, South Carolina, United States
Height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)

Eugena Washington is an American model, beauty artist, host and entrepreneur. She made her first public appearance in 2005 on the Global TV Phenomenon America's Next Top Model where she finished in the top 3. Immediately, she appeared in a national campaign for South Pole, and took LA Fashion Week by storm walking in over 20 shows. Eugena appeared in over 15 national TV commercials for McDonalds, Target, and Lexus, and starred in national beauty campaigns for Clinique, Covergirl, and L'Oreal. In 2015, she was the December Playboy and became the 3rd Black Playmate of the Year, the first Non-Nude Playmate of the Year and was the last one to be announced by Hugh Hefner himself at the Playboy Mansion.

Contents

Early life

Washington was born in 1984 in Columbia, South Carolina, United States, where she grew up. She has a brother, and her father worked for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. [1] She says that her mother raised 8 children. [2]

Career

America's Next Top Model

In 2006, Washington was the fourth (after Melrose Bickerstaff, Jaeda Young and Michelle Babin) girl to be selected for the seventh season of America's Next Top Model . Over her stay, Washington received one first call-out and survived the bottom two twice over Monique Calhoun and Brooke Miller who were both eliminated in their only ever bottom two appearance upon Washington's stay. She also won three challenges where two of them Washington selected CariDee English and Jaeda Young after winning the Covergirl challenge and Amanda Babin after winning the flamenco dancing challenge. The judges eliminated Washington eleventh (finishing third in overall rank) in Barcelona during her third collective bottom two appearance which Melrose Bickerstaff had survived for the second time round (the first being over Christian Evans who was the first eliminee) after CariDee English was selected to be the first finalist and eventually won. [3]

Washington cracked her knee during the show, and said later that "The show left a trail of very hurt young girls who really had to overcome a lot of self-esteem and self-worth issues". [4]

Playboy

Washington was the Playboy Playmate of the Month for December 2015 [5] and Playmate of the Year 2016. [5] She was the third African American to be so named. [6] She was the first Playmate of the Year after Playboy eliminated its centerfold. [6] In May, 2016, she was the last Playmate of the Year to be announced by Hugh Hefner at the Playboy Mansion. [7]

Playboy published a new centerfold spread of Washington in 2020. She said that she hoped that the photos would inspire other women to feel more confident about their bodies, not shame. [2]

Acting

Washington had a recurring role on The Bold and the Beautiful [8] and appeared in The Perfect Match (2016). [5]

Other

She appeared in the 2010 music video of rapper B.o.B's single "Nothin' on You". [1] Washington also appears in a McDonald's cafe commercial along with American R&B artist Dwele. [9] She was named one of the influencers for the Cîroc "Lets Get It" Campaign in 2016. [10]

As of 2019, she was developing a podcast and a haircare line. [11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Brow, Jason (11 May 2016). "Eugena Washington". Hollywood Life . Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  2. 1 2 Nolasco, Stephanie (10 December 2020). "Playmate of the Year 2016 Eugena Washington says she 'wanted to show a different side of nudity' in photos". Fox News . Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  3. ↑ The Encyclopedia of Reality Television: The Ultimate Guide to Over 20 Years of Reality TV from the Real World to Dancing with the Stars. Pocket Books. 2008. pp. 98–102. ISBN   978-1-4165-7055-4.
  4. ↑ Taylor, Kate (12 April 2022). "Tyra Banks wanted 'America's Next Top Model' to fix fashion. Now, some contestants say the show was 'psychological warfare.'". Business Insider . Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 "Eugena Washington: Playboy's Playmate of the Year who's not fully nude". Hindustan Times . 12 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  6. 1 2 "STYLE: Eugena Washington Named Playboy's First Playmate Of The Year In Post-Nude Era" (Video). Huffington Post . May 12, 2016. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  7. ↑ "Hugh Hefner Crippling Back Infection Started Decline in Health". TMZ. September 29, 2017. Retrieved November 11, 2017.
  8. ↑ Meilan, Ingrid (13 May 2016). "'Playboy' Reveals 2016 Playmate of the Year Eugena Washington". Us Weekly . Retrieved 30 May 2025.
  9. ↑ King, Michael (May 12, 2016). "Playboy introduces Eugena Washington as 2016 Playmate of the Year". WXIA-TV . Retrieved January 1, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Sean 'Diddy' Combs and CîROC Launch 'Lets Get It' Campaign - Chilled Magazine". Chilled Magazine. September 2016. Retrieved 2018-11-02.
  11. ↑ Boone, Keyaira (11 November 2019). "MODEL MONDAY: Eugena Washington Is Moving Beyond The Camera And Ready To Empty Her Best Self Into The World". HelloBeautiful . Retrieved 31 May 2025.
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