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Adam Wilcox posts on www.xxxwasteland.wordpress.com – Nikki Benz is a true adult industry success story. Since skyrocketing to fame in the XXX world, the stunning blonde Toronto native has secured a reputation as one of the top talents on the planet with countless magazine spreads and film roles under the banners of adult’s most reputable companies. Additionally, Benz’s work has earned her numerous AVN and XBIZ Award nominations, as well as a recurring role on FoxSports.com’s Cubed program.

Nikki achieved the highest honor of her career late last year when she was selected as Penthouse magazine’s 2011 Pet of the Year and is currently in the midst of a year-long North American tour of public appearances to represent the brand and promote various Penthouse products.

Nikki kindly took time out of her busy schedule to speak with XXX Wasteland about her responsibilities as Pet of the Year, upcoming Penthouse projects she is involved with and many other topics.

Please visit the official Penthouse online store at www.PenthouseStore.com to purchase or pre-order a variety of Nikki Benz-related items, including the upcoming 3D feature film Real Porn Stars of Chatsworth and the Penthouse Party at my Pole dancing kit.

You can follow Nikki on Twitter under the handle @NikkiBenz.

(Special thanks to Lainie Speiser of Penthouse for arranging the interview. All photos courtesy of Penthouse)

Q: First off, congratulations on being named 2011’s Penthouse Pet of the Year. How did it feel to discover you had been selected?

A: Thank you very much. I was in shock and then I was extremely excited and happy. (Laughs)

Q: You are currently on a year-long tour to promote the Penthouse brand and its products, is that correct?

A: I’m under contract to Penthouse for 18 months and throughout my reign as Pet of the Year I’m making appearances, doing interviews and at the same time shooting movies – only for Penthouse, though – and feature dancing. So, I’m doing a lot! (Laughs)

Q: I think that’s something many people don’t understand – being Pet of the Year isn’t just a designation, it’s a year-long experience with a lot of responsibilities.

A: Right. It’s a year-long experience and it’s a great experience. It’s been really good so far.

Q: That’s great. You also star in an upcoming Penthouse 3D film called Real Porn Stars of Chatsworth. Can you tell us about that?

A: Yes, Real Porn Stars of Chatsworth is the first 3D DVD that Penthouse has released. I have a really hot boy/girl scene in it with Danny Mountain. That was the first time ever that I saw myself have sex in 3D – because I wanted to see what my fans are going to experience – and it’s absolutely amazing. I had never seen 3D porn prior to this and when I saw that scene I was blown away at how crisp and how much depth there is to this scene. It definitely blew my mind away. I was kind of like, “Wow, that’s awesome.” It makes me want to be a guy, so I can watch all this 3D porn! (Laughs)

Q: (Laughs) There is also a Penthouse stripper pole that you have been a spokesperson for, right?

A: Yeah, the Penthouse stripper pole, which comes with an instructional DVD and pasties. I’m actually in the instructional DVD. It’s a great product to buy for anyone who wants to get fit or for a guy who wants to buy it for his wife or girlfriend. I’m on the instructional DVD telling you how to be sexy and how to use the pole properly.

Q: Do you have any other products out with Penthouse that you would like to mention?

A: My Penthouse movies and my scenes that I shoot for Penthouse on Penthouse.com. And if you have 3D glasses you can watch me online in 3D as well. So, that’s pretty cool.

Q: For sure. Let’s go back to beginning of your career if we can. How did you break into the adult industry?

A: I lived in Toronto, Canada and my then-boyfriend was really into Jenna Jameson. I had no idea who she was, so I researched her on Google and I thought she was really beautiful, smart and business-savvy. I said to myself, “I think I want to try adult movies.”

I E-mailed my modeling picture to an adult film director in Florida and he had me fly out literally a week later. He opened my picture up and said, “Okay, we’re flying you out to Florida.” I filmed my first girl/girl scene and that day the owner of the company was on set watching me do the scene and when I was done with my scene he said, “Okay, we’re going to give you a contract.” Mind you, this was my first scene. I didn’t know the difference between having a contact and being freelance. I was just real excited they loved me. I signed a contract and the rest is porn history. (Laughs) I’ve been doing it for just over eight years.

Q: Nice. Yes, I read that you are a fellow Ontario native. (Laughs) I live in Niagara Falls.

A: Oh, right on! Very good. I love Niagara Falls. It’s a cool town. How’s the weather?

Q: Actually, it’s staring to warm up now. We had spring weather for a while, but then the snow returned.

A: Right. It’s such a tease. Weather’s a bitch – it teases you and then it gives you snow. (Laughs)

Q: (Laughs) Exactly. You’ve obviously accomplished so much since you began your career, but do you have any further aspirations pertaining to the business?

A: Oh, absolutely. Even though I’ve been very successful and have a huge fan base – and I’m definitely thankful for that – there is definitely more that I want to do. I want to direct. I want to produce. I want to write scripts. And hopefully I get to do that for Penthouse. I proposed the idea to them that I wanted to direct a movie. They’ve agreed and I would like to follow up on that and move in that direction as well.

Q: Do you have a visual of where you see yourself in five and ten years?

A: Ten years, no, because it’s too far away. I don’t know. (Laughs) Hopefully well and healthy. In five years I know I’m still going to be in this industry. I might perform or I might direct. I’m definitely going to make appearances, but I do want to direct more. When I say “more,” I say that because I’ve directed scenes for my website, but that’s on a smaller scale. I actually want to do a big movie for Penthouse.

Q: You also have a recurring role on the Fox Sports Cubed program. Can you discuss that a little bit?

A: Absolutely. It’s a sports-savvy show with three co-workers who sit all day in the cubicle. They talk about sports, they talk about girls and anything else that’s relevant in the news. The producers got a hold of me and they wanted to get a big-name girl with a large fan base because I guess they wanted to market the show to people who like adult movies as well. So, they called me in and I was only supposed to do one episode. My first episode I was dressed as a really sexy French maid.

It was almost like a Halloween costume – a maid would never wear that. (Laughs) It did really good on the Web. It got a lot of hits, so they called me back to do a few more, only this time they changed my outfit to a more appropriate outfit like one that a maid would actually wear. Those episodes did well, so then they decided to sign me to a contract and I’ve been under contract with Fox Sports since 2009. During the two years that I’ve been working with them not only has the show been nominated for an Emmy, but it also got picked up by Fuel TV. So, every Friday night at midnight I can be seen on cable.

Q: Nice. So you are under contract to Fox Sports as well?

A: Yes, I have a contract with them so I can finish off and so I can show up to work on time. (Laughs) It’s just a project to watch me in – not exclusively, I can obviously work elsewhere. They really liked me, so they just wanted to make sure I would finish off this season.

Q: Are you a sports fan yourself?

A: I am a sports fan. The only problem with my job now is that I travel so much. I travel every week – usually Wednesday to Sunday, so it’s hard to keep up. But thank goodness for Twitter, because you can follow different sports teams and what not, so that helps.

Q: If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask a little bit about your background. Where were you raised and how would you describe yourself growing up?

A: No, that’s fine. I grew up in Toronto and I was born in the Ukraine. My dad’s half of the family was Canadian. My parents moved to Canada when I was little, so I grew up in Toronto. I was a good student when I was younger: I was on the honor roll, although I found school boring. I was one of those kids who never studied and did well. (Laughs)

After high school I was going to go to law school. I was going to take Political Science because I wanted to become an attorney eventually. But I decided to take a year off to earn money because I didn’t want my mom to stress over it – my parents were divorced. I started stripping because I knew you could make a lot of money fast.

After a year of stripping I was making so much money and I said to myself, “I can’t go back to school right now. I’m making too much money.” So I took another year off and made more money. I met my then-boyfriend, found out about Jenna Jameson and got into porn.

Q: I realize you likely don’t get a lot of spare time these days, but what are some of your interests and hobbies outside of work?

A: That’s a good question. I don’t get a lot of spare time and when I do I usually like to unwind at home because I’m always on the road or around people. Yeah … I don’t have time for hobbies. (Laughs) I read books when I travel and I listen to a lot of music. I love music. But in terms of hobbies I really don’t have that much time. (Laughs)

Q: Who are some of your favorite musical artists?

A: I listen to a variety, but I’m definitely a huge hip-hop fan. I would say that probably seventy-five percent of music on my iPod is hip-hop and the rest is metal, pop, rock … no country, though. I don’t like that at all. The only genre I won’t listen to is country. (Laughs)

Q: Are there any upcoming projects with Penthouse that you would like to put out there?

A: Absolutely! I shot a movie called Ten Things I Hate About Valentine’s Day. We shot it in February right after Valentine’s Day, so it’s very appropriate. We shot it in 3D as well. All the movies that I shoot for Penthouse will be in 3D as well as 2D. We’re targeting everybody. In the movie I play this girl who owns a flower shop and I guess I’m kind of bitter about relationships.

I don’t believe in love and I just have fun with guys and don’t get attached. But I own this flower shop and I make the most money on Valentine’s Day, which is ironic because it’s “Love Day.” One day I meet a guy and I fall in love and change my mind. So, that’s what the movie is about.

Another awesome thing we are doing is Penthouse opening another club in Reno, Nevada and I’m going to go to the grand opening at the end of April. It opens up to the public on April 30 and we’re going to have a huge bash and have fun. I love making appearances: I get to meet my fans, I get to meet fans of Penthouse, so it’s a good time for everybody. So I’m looking forward to that.

Q: Very nice. Would you like to mention any upcoming feature dancing appearances?

A: Absolutely. Oh, my gosh. I feature dance so much. (Laughs) Up next, I will be in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. That’s next weekend. Then I’m feature dancing for the first time in Montreal the weekend after that with Lisa Ann. So, I’m super stoked. It’s Canada. I feature danced for the first time ever in Toronto in September and that was amazing. My fans in Toronto definitely showed me a lot of love. It was insane how busy the club was.

So I’ll be feature dancing in Montreal, Harrisburg … basically what I would say is for my fans to go to NikkiBenz.com and check out my online calendar. It’s free to look at and I post all my appearances there.

Q: Great. Yes, I would imagine feature dancing in Toronto must have been like a homecoming of sorts. (Laughs)

A: It definitely was. It made me feel really good about my fans and what I do. They are amazing. They are Canadian, so they’re extra nice. (Laughs)

Q: (Laughs) For sure. To finish up, is there anything you wish to say to fans and readers?

A: Yes: That I love my fans and that they absolutely have to follow me on Twitter, which is @NikkiBenz. And for them to keep their eyes out for my hot movies and scenes for Penthouse. And to come to my feature dancing appearances because those are fun.