Sara Jean Underwood is Playboy Playmate of the Year 2007

Sara Jean Underwood is 2007 "Playboy" magazine Playmate of the Year.

"I felt every emotion today," Underwood told AP Entertainment at a Thursday (3 May 2007) luncheon in her honour at the "Playboy" mansion in Beverly Hills. "I can't really explain exactly all of it. But just imagine nervousness, scared, anxiety, excitement, a great sense of honour. Every emotion that you've ever felt in your life I felt today and all at once."

The petite 23-year-old blonde beat out 11 other beauties to become the magazine's 48th Playmate of the Year. The luncheon boasted a bevy of former playmates, more than 50, dating as far back to the 1950s. Hefner called the event "one of my favourite days."

As founder and editor of the magazine, he helps select the annual honouree with advice from his promotions and photo staff and loads of input from readers.

"Well, this year it was not a slam dunk," he said of Underwood's selection. "It was not easy. There were three or four that were really in serious contention. And what complicated it was the fact that she and the other most likely candidates all live together across the street in the Playmate house. They are all close friends and close friends of mine. The deciding factor was the readers' response. She got more than twice as many votes as any other Playmate. Overwhelming favourite of the readers."

Underwood gets the 2007 "Playmate" title, but it's Kristine Lefebvre, of American-reality show "The Apprentice L.A.," who gets the new "Playboy" cover and cover pictorial.

"How do I explain to my... father, who is very religious and whose pastor had worked my 'Apprentice' into the sermon?" she said, continuing, "'Dad, sit down. I know you don't drink but have a shot of whiskey.' I just told him. And he said, 'You have made so many decisions in your life that we would never think have made sense and you turned out fantastic so if this is the right decision for you then we support it.' And then he said, 'But not quite sure how the pastor is going to work this one into the sermon."