INTERNATIONAL BEAUTY IDA LJUNGQVIST NAMED PLAYBOY’S 50th PLAYMATE OF THE YEAR
Playboy’s 2009 Playmate of the Year Announced During Special Event at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas Hosted by The Celebrity Apprentice Star and 2001 Playmate of the Year, Brande Roderick
The first-ever African-born Playmate, Ida Ljungqvist, is Playboy’s 2009 Playmate of the Year. This exotic brunette has the honor of being named the magazine’s 50th Playmate of the Year and is featured in a 10-page nude pictorial in Playboy’s June issue.
For the first time in its iconic history, the Playmate of the Year was announced at a special dinner ceremony at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, hosted by The Celebrity Apprentice star and 2001 Playmate of the Year, Brande Roderick.
Along with her title, Ida receives $100,000 in prize money, a 2009 Mazda6 sports sedan and a very special one-of-a- kind engraved bottle of Patron Platinum. The event will air exclusively on Playboy TV as a half-hour special hosted by 2008 Playmate of the Year, Jayde Nicole.
Ida was born to a Tanzanian mother and a Swedish father and she traveled the globe while her father worked for UNICEF. Born in Tanzania, she grew up in more than 12 countries, including Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, France, the U.K., Sweden and Denmark. She cherishes her worldly experiences and, as a result, is fluent in three languages (Swedish, Swahili and English).
Her introduction to Playboy was quite unique. While working at a Bebe boutique in Beverly Hills, she caught the eye of Playboy’s 2007 Playmate of the Year, Sara Jean Underwood, who later brought then-Playmate photo editor and star of “The Girls Next Door” Holly Madison to the store to meet Ida. This quickly led to her landing the title of Miss March 2008.
Ida is the first African-European Playmate of the Year. In 1990, Renee Tenison was the first African-American to be given the title. Ida studied at the American InterContinental University and earned a Fashion Design and Marketing degree from The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. She currently lives in Los Angeles and has been very active with the philanthropic group Empowerment Works, which helps ailing communities and individuals learn how to support and protect themselves.
