Raquel Pomplun: 2013 Playmate Of The Year Got Into Playboy By Accident

Raquel Pomplun broke ground this week as the first ever Mexican-American to be named the Playboy Playmate of the Year, but the 25-year-old almost skipped out on modeling entirely.

Pomplun, who was named the magazine’s top honor this weekend, said she hadn’t really considered modeling until a co-worker brought it up to her.

Pomplun recalled: “She said, ‘You’re pretty and you model so why don’t you audition for Sports Illustrated or Hooters or something like that?’ And then she said, ‘No! Even better — go for Playboy!”

Raquel Pomplun admitted it was a little risky, but decided to go for it and tried to get into Playboy.

The gamble worked out quite nicely. Pomplun appeared on the cover of the April 2012 issue, posing with Bruno Mars for a “Sex and Music” issue. She now hosts Blackbelt TV’s Rocking Rounds and is co-host of Playboy Radio’s Playmates Present.

Along with the honor of being named 2013 Playmate of the Year, Raquel Pomplun also gets $100,000 in prize money and a one-year lease on a 2014 Jaguar F-TYPE.

“I can’t begin to describe how excited I am to receive this honor and be given the opportunity to represent Playboy as its first Mexican American Playmate of the Year,” she said in a statement. “Playboy has taught me a side of myself I didn’t know before. It’s been a year of wonderful surprises!”

Though she’s reached the pinnacle of Playboy fame, Raquel Pomplun is anything but one-dimensional. She studied biochemistry at Southwestern College and said she takes pride in her work ethic, and her background. When asked by an interviewer in 2012 what she wants in a boyfriend, Pomplun answered: “I need someone hardworking. I’m Hispanic,” she quipped told an interviewer during a television appearance in 2012.

Some (tame) photos of 2013 Playmate of the Year Raquel Pomplun can be found here.