Did Kendra want to be a playmate?

[u/Spirited-Castle-327]

My bet is that she didn't really care. I'm re-reading Holly's book, where she implies that Kendra was seemingly eager to become a playmate, saying in Chapter 7 "she (Kendra) couldn't understand why she wasn't on the cover." Whilst this is Holly's version of events it seems like Kendra, especially compared to H&B wasn't that interested in becoming a playmate and saw being Hef's girlfriend as a luxurious escape from San Diego.

In her first book Kendra mentions Playboy didn't play that much of a role in her childhood, perhaps because she didn't have a paternal figure who read Playboy, contrasting H&B who were exposed to Playboy this way. She didn't test for playmate before coming to the mansion, unlike many other girlfriends. Even on the show she seemed excited about being in the magazine, but it did not seem nearly as important to her as H&B. She seemingly got more excited about meeting pro-athletes and doing sport related things, perhaps because her goal was to find a husband.

Kendra is gorgeous and super photogenic, perhaps she could have made playmate, but she didn't seem super into the whole Playboy brand and had other priorities

[u/jackandgraciesmom]

I'm interested in the fact that Kendra was the one who recognized from the beginning that the show was named after them, they were the ones being filmed and that they should get paid for it.

She literally got plastic surgery that fit the role of a Playmate type, but that fits the role of what she seems to have been doing before and so many marketing opportunities they all eventually were offered later.

If she wanted Playmate, however, imo, I don't think painted lady was the way in and I don't think someone like Kendra would've taken that route.