While it may be hard to fathom now, Miss September Olivia Paige was once a tomboy. "I rode four-wheelers and go-karts, and I loved to play in the mud," she says about her childhood, which was spent in the farming hamlet of Holley, New York. "Today I think, Why on earth would you do that? Makeup and
...hair are so much more fun!" The runner-up on the recent Playboy TV reality competition Playboy Shootout, Olivia became a committed girlie girl at the age of 14 when she started competing in beauty pageants. "But I'll never let it go to my head," she vows, "because it doesn't mean anything if you're a bad person. Being pretty isn't enough; you need a good heart to back it up." On that count Olivia is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. She worked with autistic children during her senior year of high school and plans to participate in a charity walk for Autism Speaks, a national nonprofit organization that raises money for autism research and advocacy. "I definitely want to use my Playmate status to bring more attention to autism," says Olivia, who counts Playmate of the Year 1994 and fellow autism advocate Jenny McCarthy among her role models. All in all, Olivia is a gentle soul. "I'm definitely not a wild party girl. I'm a homebody who is happiest in the country, walking my dog and swimming in a pond." As for her decision to pose for this pictorial: "I think appearing naked in Playboy shows you're happy and comfortable with yourself. I want to say I am happy to be me, I love myself and I am going to show you!"
