
A&E released its latest documentary deep-dive Secrets of Playboy earlier this week. Among the show’s most surprising revelations: Hugh Hefner had a long-term sexual relationship with another man, Dr. Mark Saginor, according to two separate sources.
Saginor and Hefner had a much-publicized friendship that spanned more than four decades. Now, Saginor’s daughter Jennifer–who grew up living in the Playboy Mansion with her father and Hefner–and Hefner’s one-time girlfriend Sondra Theodore both confirm the two were more than just friends.
“My father, Mark Saginor, was Hugh Hefner’s best friend and doctor for about 40 years. Their friendship was like, next level,” Jennifer explains in the documentary series. “They were just soulmates. All the girls would sort of come and go over the years, but they remained constants.”
Jennifer describes the relationship as “more than just best friends” and “a spiritual connection that I don’t believe any of these wives or girlfriends could ever compete against.”
She adds, “They had a physical relationship. In the context of these different orgies, the orgies sort of started as something that was an opportunity for people to sort of experience their open sexuality.”
Jennifer says the relationship began when she was a kid and caused her father to distance himself from his family.
“Over the years my father really gave up his family life, his practice, to be with [Heffner],” she says. “I don’t know many men who would just basically give up their own life and then move into some other man’s house.”
“It’s my personal belief that the love of Hef’s life was my father.”
Jennifer’s claim also received a surprising corroboration in the show, that of Sondra Theodore, Hefner’s girlfriend from 1976 to 1981. She, too, knew that Hefner and Saginor were deeply in love.
“Mark became Hef’s best friend,” she says. “They took things really far. They became more than best friends.” When asked point-blank if they were lovers, she also didn’t hold back. “Yeah. Yeah, they became that,” she confirmed.
As a champion of sexual freedom, Hugh Hefner always supported LGBTQ rights and had even alluded to his own bisexual experiences. “When you’re involved in the swing period and the orgy period of the 1970s, there was more than a little bisexuality,” he famously confessed in one interview.
That said, Hefner never claimed to have more than passing experimentation with other men.
Both Jennifer Saginor and Sondra Theodore have now confirmed Hefner and Dr. Saginor’s longtime relationship. Their relationship became somewhat strained in the 2000s after Saginor faced charges of sexual misconduct and had his medical license suspended for a time.
They continued their relationship in secret, however, and spent more time together in the years leading up to Hefner’s death in 2017. In fact, according to Jennifer, the two spent Hef’s final days together.
“When Hef was passing, the one that was by his side, in the end, was my father,” she says.
Dr. Mark Saginor is still alive, though retired. Here’s hoping one day he shares his own story about his wild nights with Hugh.
Watch the trailer for Secrets of Playboy below.
Related: Pro-gay Hugh Hefner will spend eternity next to the woman who helped launch his career
GayEGO
Wow! Hugho Pughgho has his sneaky secret affairs with another guy!
Fahd
This documentary seems to bring together everyone who has written a tell-all involving Hefner, the playboy mansion, and playboy enterprises. Now that he’s dead they seem willing to speak more freely, a few have mentioned their fear of his influence and retribution when he was alive. What a mess by today’s standards – really a Wienstein of his time – this should have all come out long ago, but I guess better late than never. The pendulum has swung back quite a bit – I hope for the good.
Tombear
The girls could always leave Hefner and the mansion. Talking behind a dead man’s back is pretty low. Reminds me of Trump.
MrMichaelJ
The gay thing isn’t breaking news….
johncp56
Ditto is what I thought when I saw the trailers, they were not kidnapped; i,m sure is was sleazy there, ill watch the whole documentary, but I agree with your statement
SDR94103
he dead.
Man About Town
Thank you, Bizarro Lois Lane!
DennisMpls
This is an easy one. Say it with me: “Kinsey scale.”
That should save Donston a lot of typing! /jk!
Inspector 57
Hey, what’s with the “/jk!”?! Your quip was spot-on and funny!
Kangol2
/jk = joke / joking
ShiningSex
I heard this years ago. Not shocking. Oh well.
Prax07
If Hefner was a narcissist then I can believe it.
bachy
Hefner had a defining influence on the American sexual revolution. The “Playboy persona” he created and tirelessly promoted had more of an impact on the full spectrum of emerging male sexualities than many people seem to realize.
winemaker
Who cares, old news. People who drag other people’s personal dalliances through the mud albeit the person’s long dead are rude, classless and obnoxious? It never fails to surprise me why some people think it’s ok to do dirt to people living or dead and in doing so think this makes them superior. Bottom line some people lack common decency and class and think this is ok albeit the parties involved are long gone.
IanHunter
The documentary is well put together and a very informative film. I was surprised to see how many of his inner circle took part in this project. Worth the watch. However, I doubt this would have happened if he was still alive.
Donston
It should never be surprising to find out that guys who constantly promote hyper-sexuality, hyper hetero normality and promote themselves as “players” also also have queer dimensions or have experienced fluidity or contradictions. While many men primarily use women for stuff like sex, babies, image, ego while low-key being in love with their homeboy or simply not being hetero-leaning when it comes to the sexual, affection, romantic attachment, emotional investment, commitment spectrum. That kind of shit was even more prevalent in Hugh’s generation. He was also rather misogynistic and clearly looked at women mostly as property and things to put on display. So, once again, having some secret queer dimensions or a long-term gay relationship or secretly being in love with someone of his sex for years, it shouldn’t be a surprise. However, I’m not a big fan of digging into the dimensions of people who can no longer speak for themselves.
Pier
Ive clutched my pearls so hard over this story
cuteguy
He was most likely fluid but in those times it was frown3d upon. Heck, I recently watched an old episode of SATC and Cynthia Nixon was saying that bisexuality was a hoax! Ppl back then were ignorant and hopefully all dead
Donston
He cultivated an image of being what all “straight” men supposedly want to be: rich, cool, powerful, wanted and constantly surrounded by pretty and hyper-sexualized women. He built an empire off of that brand while also exploiting women. And I’m guessing he probably regretted nothing by his life’s end. So, this doesn’t come off as simple as “those past days”. While even today there are many men who feed into hetero superiority and look to project a “ladies’ man” image while having queer dimensions. He also hinted publicly hinted a couple of times that he might have messed around with guys. Marlon Brando is also an example of someone who didn’t seem to have a huge issue with folks knowing he was into guys. For many men, they’re fine with the world knowing that they have queer dimensions or may have “experimented”, but queer and masculine insecurities and desire to be embrace and uplifted by the “hetero world” still eggs on certain behaviors and ambitions.
Ultimately, no one truly knows Hugh’s dimensions, motivations, preferences, journey. But this type of stuff often has just as much to do with the male ego, sociology, potential hyper-sexuality or fluidity, and ignorance or insecurities towards the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, commitment spectrum as it does with it being the past. These issues and behaviors are still very much prominent today. It is kinda sad if they were truly in love, had a decades long affair and were the “loves of each other’s lives” but hid behind hetero-normalcy for their entire beings.
Diplomat
The last doc about hef went into this but not much. It will be interesting to see if this new doc spills more tea. Bisexuality is huge in this world. Most likely larger than the gay demo, tho much more suppressed.
Diplomat
PS I just viewed it. It’s a repeat done a few years back.