A Playboy model who was the last covergirl to appear on the famous title before its founder Hugh Hefner passed away has revealed vile trolls blamed her for his passing – saying she "seduced him" to death.

Liza Kei, 31, from Rostov, Russia, was honoured to be a part of the Playmate legacy when she landed the cover of the August edition in 2017.

However, what should have been a happy time for the model was tinged with sadness when weeks later founder Hugh Hefner died of natural causes aged 91.

The model, who lives in the US, now claims that shortly after, she was inundated with abuse from trolls accusing her of having an intimate relationship with the magazine tycoon – something she vehemently denies – even causing his death by "seducing him" into having a heart attack.

“As soon as I appeared in Playboy the Russian media and thousands of online trolls started spreading false rumours about me, saying that I must have slept with Hugh Hefner to get on the cover,” said Liza.

“I received thousands and thousands of messages from cruel trolls saying was that I was the reason he died, saying I must have given him a heart attack by seducing him.

“I never met Hugh Hefner even though so many people created rumours that I had been dating him.

“I think rumours circulated because people were jealous and they presumed the only way you can reach success is through sleeping with someone, which is not true.

“It was so painful for me to receive these untrue and hateful messages with people accusing me of things that were so untrue.

“Lots of the press ran with the rumours despite me denying it. The rumours spread like wildfire.

"I was so hurt, I would receive phone calls from my relatives and friends asking me about those articles.

"It was all not true. The only truth was that I had worked very, very hard as a model to develop my career."

Sadly, Liza has been plagued by negative comments and trolling throughout her career, particularly from people in her native Russia, who she says slammed her looks and talent.

The model, who has also appeared in Vogue and led campaigns for international brands including Olay, LaMer and Lancôme, claims she has even lost friends due to the rumours.

She said: “Trolls would say that there are women way more beautiful than me in Moscow or that I’m flat-chested or just another stupid girl who couldn’t find anything better to do than just get naked.

“They would say I’m so stupid that taking my clothes off or Playboy was the only thing I was good at.

“The most painful comments were when they would mention my parents.

"Things like ‘your mother should have raised you better’.

“They didn't stop to think that maybe I’d just worked really hard to get on the cover and it was based on talent."

Liza claims she’s even received negative comments from agents who criticised her weight and said her hair colour is “ugly”.

She said: “The fashion industry is more inclusive now.

"Before, they would strip us down to our underwear and measure us with measuring tapes and make us stand on weights weekly to check we had gained any kilos.

“If we had gained too much weight we would be punished or lose work.

"It was really tough.”

Despite the backlash from appearing on Playboy, Liza has no regrets and would do it again as she knows it’s what “Hef would have wanted”.

She added: “I did Playboy to celebrate women's empowerment and to give myself confidence and to show women that we should never be constrained by other people's judgement.

“I have no regrets about being in Playboy and I know Hefner was very happy and would have been very proud to have me as his last Playmate.

“I feel so honoured to be a part of such a legacy.”