The Girls Next Door cast has come a long way since their "traumatic" days in the Playboy mansion. Hugh Hefner's widow, Crystal Hefner has even removed "everything fake" from her body. After dealing with grief and public scrutiny following Hef's death in 2017, the former Playmate has eventually found love as well — dating Nathan Levi from July 2020 to May 2021.
However, their breakup was tough on the former reality star who was diagnosed with a heart disorder after confirming their split. A couple of months later, she started dating her current boyfriend Ryan Malaty. Here's everything you should know about him and their relationship.
What Was Crystal Hefner & Nathan Levi's Relationship Like?
The two were first linked in July 2020 when they were spotted kissing at the Casa de Mita resort in Mexico. Shortly after, Hefner made the relationship Instagram-official. She posted a photo of them together with the caption, "You feel like home." The couple kept a low profile but would often post sweet messages to each other. In August 2020, they went on a trip to Punta Mita, Mexico to celebrate Levi's birthday. "Happy birthday to my favorite person," Hefner captioned their photo. "Glad we could get away together for your special day."
The spaceship engineer even wrote a longer caption about the occasion. "Sometimes our lives can change in the blink of an eye... When they do, it's really important to stop and take it all in, smell the proverbial roses," he said. "If you're lucky, sometimes life will give you real roses! When it does, nothing can compare. Being with you has been one of the best changes in my life and the roses have never been more real! Thank you for making the start of my 32nd year of life better than I could have dreamed @crystalhefner."
The relationship seemed steady for a while. But in May 2021, Hefner announced her diagnosis with a rare heart rhythm disorder called Long QT syndrome following a quiet split from Levi. "I've been surrounding myself with people I love and trying to take things easy lately. I'm healing from things in my life and growing as a person," she wrote on Instagram. "On top of the health related things I'm still healing from, I was recently diagnosed with a rare heart rhythm disorder called 'long qt' syndrome. I've been lucky to find people on social media who have it as well and they've helped me tremendously."
Who Is Crystal Hefner's New Man Ryan Malaty?
Malaty is a 32-year-old actor from New York. You've probably seen him on the Netflix film Reality High and the series My Dead Ex. He also starred in Youthful Daze alongside Selling Sunset star Chrishell Stause but is mainly known for his appearance on the MTV reality show Are You the One? He's also had a hosting stint on NASA TV for AfterBuzz and has signed a modeling contract with Wilhelmina Modeling Agency. But he's not just your typical actor.
Malaty has also written a series of children's books with his younger brother Brandon. "I grew up helping my mom run a daycare and took great interest in educating children so they could feel empowered and loved," he previously wrote on Instagram. According to his LinkedIn page, he is also an L.A.-based marketer who's had his own firm since 2009.
It's called Else Marketing — "Originally a college-town marketing company. We've created programs such as the Campus Comp Card and the College Town Map which provide marketing solutions for local business communities near college campuses," says the company bio. Malaty's many gigs have reportedly earned him a net worth of $2 million.
What's Crystal Hefner & Ryan Malaty's Relationship Like?
The two were first linked in July 2021 after Hefner shared a series of photos with Malaty in Mexico. "Ryan is a good friend and they are getting to know each other," a source initially said. The two have been sharing a lot of couple pictures on Instagram but neither has revealed major details about the relationship. Hefner is known for keeping her love life private. Even after her wedding to the Playboy founder, they chose to stay out of the limelight until his death.
"I was part of Hugh Hefner’s world for over a decade," said the widow. "By the time I left, it had been a third of my life. I was with him through wild times, calm times and all the times in between up until the day he passed away." She added that death is a tough subject for her, as well as discussing her life in the mansion. It's exactly why she keeps her personal life private.
"That day was very hard," she said of Hef's passing. "I have lost a lot of people in my life, and death is a difficult topic for me. I chose to be more private over the years because I'm an introvert at heart and while the mansion in some ways was a sanctuary, in other ways, I was exploited like never before. I've been on the fence about telling my story because it’s complicated and conflicting in ways."
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