Playboy boss Hugh Hefner was ‘smitten’ with Kelly Brook and was keen for her to live with him in the notorious mansion

Playboy boss Hugh Hefner was 'in love' with Kelly Brook and wanted her to live with him in the infamous Playboy Mansion, MailOnline can reveal.

The magazine mogul's girlfriend invited Kelly to visit them in the United States, but she ultimately decided to decline the proposal, his ex said.

Former Playboy bunny Zoe Gregory is opening up for the first time about Hefner's interest in the model as she promotes her new book about her extraordinary life.

Zoe, 49, and Brook, 44, became friends when they went to castings together in England and later both promoted PlayStation game Fighting Force in the late 1990s.

And Zoe revealed: 'I loved Kelly dearly and when I moved into the Mansion Hef asked me if I knew her.

'I said to him, “Yes, we are good friends, we used to go to castings together.” I invited her over a few times and Kelly seemed excited at first, but then she told me she didn't want to get involved.

“I think it was because she was in a relationship and her agency persuaded her to go that way. She tried to maintain a good reputation for her career.

'She also might have seen the reaction Katie Price got after modeling for Playboy and thought: I'm not going to do it.

'But I've always wondered why she didn't go that route. She would have been perfect for Playboy and a move to the United States would have been a big boost to her career.

'She would stand out as a brunette at a time when there was a bit of a blonde invasion with Pamela Anderson and Anna Nicole Smith.

'Hef would have loved Kelly more and, knowing him as I do, I'm sure he would have married her. She was the opposite of what he had at The Mansion, which was all blonde hair and big tits.”

Hefner died in 2017 at the age of 91, leaving London-born mother-of-one Zoë, who lived with him for three years at his £150 million home in Los Angeles' Holmby Hills, distraught.

The former moved to LA with her son Lewis in her early 20s to pursue her dream of becoming famous in the United States.

She initially worked in erotic B-movies before meeting Hef, who was then in his seventies, at one of his regular parties, where he seduced girls between games of backgammon.

They hit it off and in 2001 he invited her to become a model for Playboy and join the harem of women who lived with him in the Mansion.

Within a year she had risen in the pecking order to become his second girlfriend.

But in 2004 she was forced to leave after falling out with his taller girlfriend Holly Madison, who slept in his bed every night while the other women retreated to their own rooms.

Holly ended her seven-year relationship with Hef in 2008 and was replaced by Crystal Harris, who became his third wife in 2012.

Zoe's book 'From Britain to Bunny' is published on January 23 and is available to pre-order now.

She reveals that Hef no longer seemed to get the same thrill from the ritual orgies he continued to hold in his final years, which could involve as many as seventeen girls.

She also talks for the first time about the “panty chandelier” hanging from the ceiling of his bedroom.

She said: 'I'd never seen anything like it before. It was such a focal point of his room and I thought, if only walls could talk. I'd love to meet the women who threw their thongs out there and hear their stories.

“It was a big, gold chandelier to the right of his bed, covered in thongs from all the girls who had been there over the years.

'It looked like a work of art. There were cobwebs on some of the thongs they had worn there for so long.

“I don't know how the chandelier didn't fall down, there were so many straps on it. I say there were a few hundred.

'For decades you saw different types of panties, ranging from full-fledged underwear to small thongs.

“I'd say to Hef, 'Do you remember who threw them there?' He would laugh. There were so many years of thongs he wouldn't have had a clue about it.”

Of Hef's bedroom habits, she added, “His life was very planned, he did the same thing at the same time every day, and I think that was part of the reason he had the orgies.”

'After he had a few drinks and smoked a bit of weed, you could tell he was in his own bubble. He lay there and let everyone get on and off, but he was most focused on the girls' performances and the porn on TV.

'I counted seventeen girls on the bed one night, which was the most and you couldn't fit all of us on the bed, so some of the girls sat on the floor waiting for their turn.

'The weirdest thing I saw was probably the porn that was on TV, sometimes it was a bit gay porn. I don't know why, after a few hours you don't know what they're playing anymore, it just keeps spinning. There were a few girls who were really into it, but most weren't.”

Zoe also talks about Hef's friendship with English celebrity Katie Price, who previously modeled for Playboy.

She revealed: 'Hef loved Katie, he was obsessed with her. He wanted her to move in permanently and become his girlfriend, but she had just had Harvey, so that wasn't possible.

“She's naturally outspoken and never shy and when she's had a few drinks it becomes times 10.

“I don't remember many of her visits because when she was there we partied hard.”

Zoe admits that she saw Hef's girlfriend as a job and that she never enjoyed being intimate with him or performing with the other women he invited into his bedroom.

But despite that, she still has fond memories of her time in the mansion.

Speaking from her home in Florida, she added: “I wanted to make Hef happy because he made my dreams come true.

'I love that man, he is my hero, because he set me up for life and gave me all the opportunities I ever dreamed of.

'We kept in touch after I left, but when his mind started to deteriorate and you had to keep repeating who you were on the phone, it got to the point where it broke my heart.

“The last time I saw him in person was when I went to the mansion for a party around 2009.

“I said hello, but he looked really old and I thought, I don't want to remember him like that.”

From Britain to Bunny is now available to pre-order on the website www.Britaintobunny.com