Kendra Wilkinson Baskett: ‘Housewives Can Be Sexy’

It’s been five years since America met Hugh Hefner’s spunky, sporty girlfriend Kendra. Now, Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett is a happy housewife with hubby Hank Baskett and baby Hank IV. But these changes don’t mean the mom has lost her mojo. In this week’s issue of OK!, Kendra defends her decision to turn down Playboy and insists that she doesn’t need a centerfold to prove she’s still hot.

Recently, Kendra was accused by radio host Erich “Mancow” Muller of going from “Marilyn Monroe to Mrs. Brady,” but the former Playboy model stood up for hot moms everywhere, snapping back, “I still shake my ass! Moms can be sexy!”

On her E! show Kendra, the reality star struggled with weight gain and post-partum depression — not exactly centerfold material. But Kendra refused to let her housewife status define her.

To prove to the world that she was still the same sex symbol she was pre-baby, Kendra agreed to pose for Playboy. But then at the last minute — with the photographers already in her home ready to shoot — Kendra changed her mind.

Rumors have already surfaced about why Kendra backed out of Playboy. There are reports that she still hates her post-baby body and is planning liposuction while others blame Hank’s unease towards the racy spread.

Kendra did defend her beau in a recent E! Online interview, saying, “He didn’t yell at me. He wasn’t mad at me for doing that photo shoot. He actually sat down with me, and he went over the reasons of doing it,” Kendra said.

The episode of Kendra that depicts her decision airs this week, so hopefully these rumors will soon be put to rest.

No matter what the exact motivation behind her decision, it seems that Kendra really values Hank’s opinion above all else. Hopefully his assurance to her in the Playboy episode of Kendra that, “You’re still a sex icon,” was taken to heart and she’ll learn to block out the critics and be happy with her own body.

And even if audiences might not find Kendra the Mom as appealing as Kendra the Party Girl, it’s pretty clear that there’s one person whose fire for the blonde bombshell will never extinguish.

While Kendra and Hank might have to do long distance during football season, the couple has found ways to keep their marriage as hot as ever.

“We Skype all the time, and make sure we see each other, and that’s how we have our sex, too,” Kendra told OK!.

Kendra also sends “surprise texts” via BlackBerry to keep things spicy. “Let me tell you, sending a naked picture to my husband definitely keeps him going!” she said recently.

And with all the commotion surrounding her body image and the Playboy shoot, Kendra and Hank have managed to keep their focus on what’s really important: family. In fact, the couple are even planning on adding a new addition to the Baskett bunch soon.

“We are going to try probably next July or August,” she said. “I definitely can’t wait for No. 2. Girl or boy, I don’t care. I am a boy mom, so even if I had a girl, she would be a Shiloh. Angelina Jolie with Shiloh is my idol right there.”