She didn’t win on TV’s “America’s Next Top Model,” but the woman named Wednesday as Playboy’s 2016 Playmate of the Year becomes only the third black woman ever to be so honored.
Eugena Washington, 31, will be featured on the cover of the magazine’s June issue, and on 10 pages inside. The issue will go on sale May 20.
“It’s a great time for this,” Washington told the magazine in talking about the fact that she is black. “The world is changing. I hope this brings different eyes to the magazine and new audiences. This is a story and a chapter in my life to build around. I’m enjoying the ride, and right now I’m doing whatever I want to do, day by day. That’s how I live. That’s what my life is about. As long as I’m doing what I want to do, I’m happy. Right now, being a part of Playboy is what I want to do.”
As Playmate of the Year, Washington will receive $100,000 in prize money and a two-year lease on a 2017 Fiat 124 Spider.
Washington appeared on “America’s Next Top Model” in 2006, finishing as the second runner-up. She has also done modeling for products including CoverGirl, Clinique, Macy’s, Target and Avon, and she has appeared on “The Bold and the Beautiful.”
She was Playboy’s Playmate of the Month in December. She is the 57th woman to be named Playmate of the Year, an honor that began in 1960 with Dorothy Stratton.
—City News Service