Karen McDougal (born March 23, 1971) is an American model and actress. She is known for her appearances in Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month for December 1997 and Playmate of the Year of 1998. In 2001, the readers of Playboy voted McDougal the runner-up of "The sexiest Playmate of the 1990s". McDougal taught pre-kindergarten before winning a swimwear competition that launched her career as a glamour, promotional, and swimsuit model. Since her appearances in Playboy, she has extended her career into a wide variety of appearances in mainstream media, including other magazine modeling, television commercials, and minor acting, with mixed success. She has been a successful fitness model, with multiple magazine appearances including being the first woman to appear on the cover of Men's Fitness magazine. She starred in The Arena, a direct-to-video film, and inspired the creation of a fantasy art statuette and a doll. McDougal is a fitness enthusiast, since having, in her childhood, engaged in ballet study and high school sports. She is an avid motorcycle and car collector. Since her Playmate days, she has maintained a largely private social life. The revelation of an affair with Donald Trump from 2006 to 2007 and its subsequent coverup have put her into national headlines before and after the 2016 United States presidential election. Early life McDougal was born in Merrillville, Indiana, near Gary. She is of Cherokee, Scottish and Irish descent. She is the eldest daughter in the family, with three older brothers, Bob, Dave and Jeff, and a younger sister, Tina. Her mother, Carol, remarried when McDougal was nine years old and the family moved to Sawyer, Michigan where she remained until college. McDougal studied tap dance and ballet as a child. Her childhood dream, prior to teaching and modeling, was to become a ballerina. She attended River Valley High School and became a cheerleader, a marching band member, a color guard member and a volleyball and softball player, as well as Michigan state champion clarinet player four years in a row in high school. Her high school nickname was "Barbie" due to her wholesome sweetness. After graduating from high school in 1989, she attended Ferris State University at Big Rapids, Michigan, majoring in Elementary Education. After two years of college, McDougal moved to a Detroit suburb where she taught pre-kindergarten, before being persuaded to try out for a swimsuit competition. One of her professional