From a woman living a pretty unassuming life as a business woman, journalist and the wife of a congressman, Rita Jenrette could never have known how her husband’s involvement in the Abscam investigation would lead to her becoming a Playboy model.

Following the scandal involving her husband, John Wilson Janrette, Rita gave her first interview with Hugh Hefner’s Playboy magazine in April 1981, where she appeared as a celebrity centerfold. Then again in Playboy magazine, and on the cover in May 1984 with Phillip Anderson, an actor and model she was dating at the time.

During the first interview with Playboy, she caused a scandal when she revealed how she and her husband had sex on the steps of the U.S. Capitol during a break in an all-night House session. Rita separated from her husband in January 1981, and divorced him shortly after her first Playboy appearance.

Capitalizing on her publicity as a congressman’s wife, Rita wrote a book called My Capitol Secrets in 1981 that detailed her experiences as a Congressional spouse, and repeated the story of having sex with her husband on the Capitol steps, the night of their marriage.

Rita went on to become an on-air journalist on Fox television on which she interviewed celebrities and later found success in a real estate business.

During her days with Playboy, Rita also embarked on a mediocre movie career starring in The Edge of Night in 1981, Fantasy Island in 1982, Zombie Island Massacre in 1984, and also on stage in A Philadelphia Story in 1982 and A Girl’s Guide to Chaos in 1987.

Rita now lives in New York City, where she is a successful real estate broker. She is a member of the Real Estate Board of New York and active in community and charitable affairs.