Karen Velez

Meet Karen Velez, our first-ever Puerto Rican Playmate. “When I was picked for Playmate of the Year, I was flabbergasted. ‘You guys want me?’” Of course we wanted Karen—she’s a feisty Latina with voluminous dark brown hair and a voluptuous figure, but, surprisingly, she isn’t completely sold on her looks. “One of the reasons I posed for Playboy was to see if I was really as insecure about my looks as I thought I was. Maybe there was someone out there who thought I was all-right-looking. I was proving something that was important to me.” Karen proved her point alright—she first earned the title of Miss December 1984 which led to her current fame as our Miss 1985, but her favorite title is wife. During Miss Velez’s Playmate of the Year photoshoot in Tahiti, she announced to the world that she was deliriously in love with her new boyfriend, The Six Million Dollar Man, Lee Majors. “When I met Karen, I didn’t know she was a Playmate. She had on baggy clothes, and I just remember that she was nice. Later, when we dated, I found her to be very intelligent, with a great sense of humor, and not at all interested in the entertainment industry, which was nice for a change,” admits Lee Majors who married the Playmate in 1988. “I was very happy for her when she told me she was Playmate of the Year. I think she will represent the magazine quite well.” Although Miss 1985 has made Playboy fans proud, she’s quick to correct anyone who calls her an exhibitionist. She’s a model—plain and simple—who posed for Playboy because she wanted to show off her curvy body before she began to have children. “I want ten children, yes,” says the Playmate. “And I want one of those ideal husbands who doesn't exist anymore— someone to talk to and say, ‘Hey, something is bothering me. Can we talk about it?’” Even though she is no longer married to Lee Majors and only has three children, Karen did pass on her Playboy legacy to her daughter, Nikki Majors. In March 2008, Nikki posed for the magazine’s Playmate Daughters feature and made it clear that Karen’s genes are strong.