Karen McDougal

Karen McDougal (born March 23, 1971) is an American model and actress.

After graduating from high school in 1989,

she attended Ferris State University at Big Rapids, Michigan, majoring in Elementary Education.

After two years of college, McDougal moved to a Detroit suburb where she taught pre-kindergarten, before being persuaded to try out for a swimsuit competition.

One of her professional goals has always been to open a learning center for children, but she put those plans on hold to focus on pursuing roles in acting and modeling.

McDougal's first modeling assignment was as a promotional model at a Harley-Davidson bike show in Detroit.

She is known for her appearances in Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month for December 1997 and Playmate of the Year of 1998, and for her alleged 9-month-long affair with Donald Trump before he became president.

In 1997, McDougal tried out and won a local swimsuit competition promoted by Venus Swimwear in Michigan, earning her place at the international final in Florida.

Her victory caught the eye of Playboy photographer David Mecey.

Soon after that, she was approached by Playboy, offering a test shoot at Playboy Studio West, which she accepted.

Upon completing her test shoot, she was promptly selected to return for a complete photo and video shoot and chosen as Miss December 1997.

Her pictorial, which was shot by photographers Richard Fegley and Stephen Wayda, has a winter theme and its outdoor portion was shot in snowy fields near Park City, Utah.

Her video, the "Playmate Profile", was featured on Playboy TV soon after her magazine debut.

In May 1998, it was announced that she had been chosen by Hugh Hefner and fans as Playmate of the Year (PMOY) of 1998 at a luncheon at the Playboy Mansion.

As part of being named PMOY, she was awarded $100,000 and a special edition silver Shelby Series 1 convertible with a customized Michigan license plate "PMOY 98".

McDougal's PMOY pictorial was featured in the July 1998 issue of Playboy where she also appeared on its cover.

In contrast to her Playmate pictorial, her PMOY pictorial has a tropical theme and its outdoor portion was shot in Saint Lucia.

According to her interview in her Playmate of the Year "Video Centerfold" which was released soon after her PMOY issue debuted, she believes her physical imperfections are her "funny" smile, her crooked pinkies which she inherited from her grandfather, and her "ugly feet" which she wishes others would not look at.

Because of the popularity of the VH1 television series "Pop-up Video" at the time, one of the segments in her PMOY video was done as a Pop-up Video parody filled with factoids about her and Playboy.

During her appearance on The Magic Hour to promote her PMOY issue, McDougal demonstrated her signature pose, straddle split on TV in front of a live studio audience.

In March 1999, McDougal became the first woman to appear on the cover of Men's Fitness magazine.

In 2001, the readers of Playboy voted McDougal the runner-up of "The sexiest Playmate of the 1990s".

McDougal taught pre-kindergarten before winning a swimwear competition that launched her career as a glamour, promotional, and swimsuit model.

Since her appearances in Playboy, she has extended her career into a wide variety of appearances in mainstream media, including other magazine modeling, television commercials, and minor acting, with mixed success.

She has been a successful fitness model, with multiple magazine appearances including being the first woman to appear on the cover of Men's Fitness magazine.

She starred in The Arena, a 2001 direct-to-video film, and inspired the creation of a fantasy art statuette and a doll.

McDougal is a fitness enthusiast, since having, in her childhood, engaged in ballet study and high school sports.

She is an avid motorcycle and car collector.

Since her Playmate days, she has maintained a largely private social life.

In an online chat in 2002, McDougal expressed interest in posing nude for Playboy again if offered.

The revelation of an affair with Donald Trump from 2006 to 2007 and its subsequent coverup have put her into national headlines before and after the 2016 United States presidential election.

McDougal was born in Merrillville, Indiana, near Gary.

She is of Cherokee, Scottish and Irish descent.

She is the eldest daughter in the family, with three older brothers, Bob, Dave and Jeff, and a younger sister, Tina.

Her mother, Carol, remarried when McDougal was nine years old and the family moved to Sawyer, Michigan where she remained until college.

McDougal studied tap dance and ballet as a child.

Her childhood dream, prior to teaching and modeling, was to become a ballerina.

She attended River Valley High School and became a cheerleader, a marching band member, a color guard member and a volleyball and softball player, as well as Michigan state champion clarinet player four years in a row in high school.

Her high school nickname was "Barbie" due to her wholesome sweetness.

Since then she expanded her career into fitness modeling by appearing in fitness and bodybuilding magazines such as Muscle & Fitness (January 2000), Physical (June 2004), and Iron Man (October 2005, January 2006, June 2007 and November 2009 ).