POSTED: 11:33 a.m. CST November 20, 2003
UPDATED: 8:47 a.m. CST November 21, 2003

HOUSTON -- Playboy magazine has featured several Houston-area women over the years. But a recent local model created a controversy when she surgically changed her look after her photo shoot.

Sha Ross, from Katy, is currently in Playboy's special edition, College Girls.

After her photo shoot and while the magazine was in production, Ross changed her look. But the decision may cost her a Playboy career.

The former Miss Katy was 2 years old when she started competing in beauty pageants, winning numerous titles.

But one of her proudest titles was being selected to appear in Playboy when she was 18.

"Here I was this 18-year-old girl. I hate the way I look. I hate my body. I hate my hair. Hey do you want to appear in Playboy? It's like, 'What?'" Ross said. "They shot me as 'all natural.' It's a really cool feeling to know you're part of that elite group."

Texas Playboy scout Mikki Chernoff picked Ross immediately.

"She just had a real natural loveliness about her," Chernoff said. "What a great validation to be selected for the No. 1 men's magazine in the world without changing the way you are in any way."

But Ross did not like the pictures. She thought her nearly perfect body was not so perfect.

"Even though I was able to pose for Playboy, as is, it wasn't enough for me," she said.

If it were up to her, she would have changed the pictures.

"I like them. I just wish they would have been more glamorous. Hopefully, next time that's what I'll get," Ross said.

So Ross had plastic surgery.

"I had breast augmentation. I was, like, a large B, small C. I'm (now) about a large D, DD. I had lip enhancements and I had a little (liposuction) under the chin," she said. "I feel pretty. I like the way I look. I'm happy with my body and who I am."

She had the surgery even after Playboy advised her not to.

"I felt she might be jeopardizing her future with Playboy by getting enhancements," said Jeff Cohen, with Playboy

Ross was happy with her new look. But Playboy wasn't.

"She's not the girl we photographed the first time," Cohen said.

Cohen is the publisher and editor of Playboy special editions.

He had scheduled Ross for a future issue, but after shooting her after her surgeries, he is not sure the magazine will use her again.

"There's no question we will continue to photograph and publish women who have had augmentation to their breasts," Cohen said. "From an editor of a magazine, from the fact I've already published her one time, she's in this issue as a natural-looking young lady. Now we have to decide whether we want to show her in a whole different way. I haven't made that decision yet."

At a recent trip to the Playboy mansion, Ross met her idol, Pamela Anderson.

Ross said that if her Playboy career ends here, she's fine with that because at 19, she's finally the person she wants to be.

"I like blond hair, big boobs, big lips. I like that whole glamorous look. It was something I wanted for me. It's something to feel better about myself. It wasn't for Playboy. It wasn't for anybody else. It was for me," she said.