So Is Karina Getting Naked or What?

Hugh Hefner announced over Twitter that “Dancing with the Stars” pro Karina Smirnoff — presently partnered with Ralph Macchio —

“If Karina posed naked, she can kiss her dancing days goodbye,” a ‘DWTS’ insider told me immediately after hearing of Hef’s announcement on Twitter. “I hope for Karina’s sake that this isn’t true.”

Yeah, I’m sure the publisher of Playboy is regularly misinformed about which women are naked in his magazine. “Wait, Karina’s not posing for Playboy? Oh. I guess I shouldn’t have announced it then.” I mean, he’s old, but he doesn’t have Alzheimer’s. Yet.

The immediate response of ABC, I’m told, is that having one of their dancers pose naked during an ongoing season could “soil” the wholesome show’s image.

“ABC publicity department control the image of this show with an iron fist. It’s a cash cow and they are not going to allow its reputation to be soiled by a dancer who wants to do Playboy,” an ABC source tells me.

That makes less than zero sense. Kendra Wilkinson was recruited to be on the show even though only famous because she was in Playboy several times as Hugh Hefner’s girlfriend. You know, this kind of drivel wouldn’t be published if the public was encouraged to attack gossip columnists with baseball bats.

Speaking of baseball, Karina’s engaged to Tigers pitcher Brad Penny, who’s being paid $3 million this year to throw a ball once every five days. I think she’s gonna land on her feet.