Once a young lady becomes one of our Playmates, it's hardly unusual to see her establish a lucrative career in television or film. But as far as we can tell, Kelly Monaco is the first Playmate to become a champion dancer. Kelly, who also stars as Samantha McCall on the soap opera General Hospital, took part in ABC's surprise summer hit Dancing With the Stars. Over the course of six episodes, Kelly shook her cute booty in competition with such celebrities as Rachel Hunter, Evander Holyfield, Trista Sutter, John O'Hurley and Joey McIntyre. Although Kelly was criticized by judges during the first few weeks for her clumsiness and morose expressions ("Is there a death in the family?" one asked. "Your face, it's like someone died"), she hung on. And clung on. On our favorite episode, Kelly's top came unfastened, and she had to complete the samba with one hand preventing all of America from beholding a vision Playboy readers first saw in April 1997. The following week, Kelly professed embarrassment about nearly flashing almost 17 million people. But while we scratched our heads over this sudden case of bashfulness--that's not the woman we know--we continued to root for her. As it happened, this near--wardrobe malfunction proved a turning point for Kelly, who began to exhibit a determination that led host Tom Bergeron to compare her to Rocky. She invested every fox-trot, samba and freestyle performance with plucky verve. As the weeks progressed, her rival celebrities, along with his or her professional dance partner, were one by one eliminated from the competition until only the pairs headed by Kelly and the regal O'Hurley remained. On the final night, Kelly danced her heart out. She and her partner earned perfect 10s from each of the three judges, which, along with the overwhelming support of the television audience, gave them the title. Unfortunately, the result caused some grumbling. Critics say it simply wasn't fair that Kelly, with her many faithful General Hospital fans, should have been matched against a model, a boxer, a reality-TV star, Seinfeld's Peterman and an old New Kid on the Block. O'Hurley himself sniffed, saying there was a hidden "agenda" behind her win, and the television watchdog group Morality in Media has called for an investigation. To all who are complaining, we say, "Take a waltz." The judging wasn't fixed, but surely the judges were transfixed--and Kelly's beauty didn't hurt. Moreover, we suspect it wasn't Kelly's daytime fans who jammed the phone lines but a legion of her Playboy-reading admirers. However, Kelly needs no defense; she's in talks with ABC to return next summer to defend her title (and, rumor has it, move to Desperate Housewives' Wisteria Lane this season). Viva la Kelly!
See Kelly's Original Playmate Pictorial at cyber.Playboy.com.
