On Thursday, Crystal — who was married to Hugh from 2012 till his demise in 2017 — filed to legally change her title from Crystal Margaret Hefner to Crystal Margaret Harris with the Los Angeles Superior Court docket, in accordance with court docket docs obtained by Us Weekly.

“I’m a widow and reclaiming my maiden title,” Crystal, 39, wrote within the submitting, per the outlet.

In an interview with Us Weekly, printed on Thursday, the previous Playmate detailed why she determined to revert to her maiden title eight years following Hugh’s passing.

“There’s at all times been a variety of noise round why I stored the Hefner title,” Crystal stated. “I had so many individuals assuming it was for consideration or clout. However the reality is, it was way more private and complicated than that. Holding onto that title wasn’t about fame — it was about survival.”

“While you undergo one thing as intense and all-consuming as that chapter of my life, you don’t simply snap your fingers and reinvent your self,” she continued. “It’s a must to peel again the layers, face the trauma, and slowly come again to who you actually are.”

The previous actuality star went on to share how holding on to her final title impacted her.

“I didn’t understand how a lot of myself I had misplaced,” she defined. “The title wasn’t a highlight — it was a shadow I lived underneath for years whereas I labored via all the pieces that got here with it.”

“And whereas there have been moments I considered altering it sooner, I wasn’t emotionally prepared,” Crystal admitted. “I needed to reclaim me first, and that took time, energy, and a variety of readability. So no, it wasn’t about consideration. It was about survival, identification, and ultimately, therapeutic.”

The Solely Say Good Issues: Surviving Playboy and Discovering Myself writer — who’s engaged to fiancé James Ward — defined why she determined to attend till now to vary her final title.

“I am lastly in a spot the place I really feel grounded, entire, and at peace,” Crystal stated. “Altering my title isn’t about erasing the previous — it is about reclaiming my identification.”

“It is a homecoming. Harris is who I used to be earlier than the world informed me who to be, and it is who I’m now, after coming full circle,” she continued, including that the change is a “big step,” which she described as “emotional” and “symbolic.”

“It represents closure, readability and the selection to maneuver ahead in alignment with who I’ve turn into,” Crystal informed the outlet. “It is shedding a reputation that when outlined me and stepping right into a model of myself that feels fully free, genuine, and powerful.”

The Ladies Subsequent Door alum shared that she plans to marry Ward subsequent spring, and stated she’s “protecting” her final title and “protecting [her] identification.” Crystal additionally stated that whereas her upcoming nuptials weren’t the primary motive she determined to legally change her final title now, it “aligns completely with this new chapter we’re coming into collectively.”

In the meantime, afterward Thursday, Crystal took to Instagram to react to the media protection of her title change submitting, together with her interview with Us Weekly.

Alongside a handful of screenshots of the articles, she shared a prolonged assertion, additional reflecting on her resolution to vary her final title.

After describing the protection as “reflections of a really private shift,” Crystal wrote, “Letting go of the title ‘Hefner’ isn’t about erasing my past-it’s about honoring how far I’ve come. For a very long time, I carried that title as a result of I did not know who I used to be with out it. I assumed perhaps it will preserve me secure, or related, or entire. However the reality is, I needed to lose myself to be able to ultimately discover her once more.”

“This isn’t a rejection of the previous. It’s a reclamation of self,” she continued. “The lady who stepped into that world so a few years in the past was younger, impressionable, and surviving. She performed the half. She smiled via it. And he or she paid the price-physically, emotionally, and spiritually. However immediately, I am not her. I am now not searching for another person’s title to provide me value.”

“I’ve carried out the therapeutic. I’ve discovered love, actual love. I am constructing a life that seems like me,” she added. “And with that comes the easy however highly effective act of returning to my very own name-Crystal Harris.”

Crystal went on to acknowledge that “some folks will misunderstand it, sensationalize it, or connect their very own narratives to it,” earlier than expressing her gratitude to “those that’ve adopted my story, rooted for my development, and seen past the headline.”

“You’ve got helped me discover the braveness to do that,” she concluded. “That is greater than a reputation change. It is a soul reclamation.”

This comes a month after Crystal revealed her plans to drop Hefner and return to her maiden title, sharing the replace in an Instagram publish by which she claimed she was having points attempting to vary her username on the social media platform.

“To everybody I’ve needed to block: I am exhausted. Should you’ve harassed me, you are gone. I do not owe anybody entry to my peace,” she wrote. “However to those that are right here with open hearts, who genuinely assist my journey — thanks.”

Crystal later admitted that she “did accomplish issues with the Hefner title.”

“I made eight figures. I launched companies. I discovered a model of confidence,” she continued. “However here is the factor — none of that was ever in regards to the title. It was about me. And now, I would like my title again. Crystal Margaret Harris.”

“Not as a result of I’m ashamed of who I used to be — however as a result of I lastly know who I’m,” Crystal stated.