Lauren Summer didn’t enter The Great Playmate Search expecting to win. She signed up quietly, embarked on a bucket-list visit to Japan, and only realized how far she’d come when a notification stopped her mid-trip: she was in the quarterfinals. What followed was a surge of focused direction around a single goal—she would do anything to become the next Playmate. Little did her millions of fans know that her win would mark a full-circle moment for the social media star—and a complete dream come true.
The captivating Orlando native, who now calls Los Angeles home, traces her success back to Playboy, beginning with a single Instagram post on April 5, 2017. “I have this beautiful house. I have this beautiful life. I have this beautiful career because in 2017 Playboy posted a lingerie photo of me on their Instagram, and overnight I blew up. I’ve used that as a stepping stone to everything that I have here today,” she told our judges, a group of Legacy Playmates that included Shanna Moakler, Brande Roderick, Daphnée Duplaix, Summer Altice and Gillian Nation. Since her initial viral success, Lauren has turned her platform into more than just the jaw-dropping bikini selfie. She opened up about her own history with premenstrual dysphoric disorder, or PMDD, offering men insights into realities they may never have been taught, and she even offers awareness around men’s sexual health, destigmatizing erectile dysfunction, and offering the occasional insight about how guys can conduct themselves better on dates. She champions Playboy as a place that has made these discussions possible, emphasizing the Playmates’ track record of being symbols of sexual liberation, and advocating for the causes that accompany it.
“You’re not just a fantastic body. You’re also this multifaceted woman,” she says. Despite the stereotypes that accompany being a woman, she’s aware—and in control of—her sexual power, she names the Playmates’ track records beyond their coveted centerfolds. “This woman has a bachelor’s degree. This woman has a doctorate. This woman has a nonprofit. To be in that company would be such an honor and also validate that I’m seen as a multifaceted woman.”
To prove her point, Lauren showed the judges her 2025 vision board, where she achieved every goal she set, from learning to play golf to meeting the love of her life, capped by a small section that reads “Be ready for anything” beside the Playboy logo.
At the heart of everything, Playboy has always been about choice—and Lauren shares that, “to be in charge of my own image is really important to me. Hell yeah, I’m going to take a beautiful nude just because I want to.”
It’s that freedom—to be serious or silly, outspoken or playful, clothed or bare—that defines who Lauren is and will be as the next Playmate. And she’ll never forget how she got here, which is through the support of her fans and followers. “I think it would be incredible to be remembered as the Playmate who was relatable, funny, or goofy. I can be in lingerie, but I also like to make a fool of myself.” It’s the perfect mantle for the People’s Playmate.
Lauren makes her Playmate debut in 2026. To be one of the first to see her pictorial before it even hits newsstands, pre-order our Spring 2026 issue today.
