Gabrielle Rushing and Jessica Bentley got naked the first time they met.
There was no alcohol involved.
Rushing, a 20-year-old biology junior, and Bentley, a 21-year-old advertising senior, represent UF in Playboy's "Girls of the SEC" issue. The issue, which features girls from the 12 SEC universities, was available on newsstands Oct. 14.
Playboy does the feature once every four years.
The university has no affiliation with the magazine, UF spokesman Steve Orlando said.
Last April, about 100 girls tried out for the magazine at a casting call in Gainesville. Rushing and Bentley, who asked to keep her real surname separate from her modeling personality, were chosen and left Gainesville a few days later for the photoshoot at Ginnie Springs.
The girls met the day of the shoot and got to know each other over hair and makeup, Rushing said.
Several of the photos include the girls holding a 130-pound alligator on their shoulders. These photos will be published in the issue of Playboy's College Girls, a spinoff magazine, on newsstands Nov. 29.
The photograph featured in the "Girls of the SEC" shows Rushing and Bentley posing nude together, sitting on a log.
"It wasn't uncomfortable to me because by that time we had seen each other pose separately, and we were aware of what to do," Rushing said.
Rushing, from Tampa, read about the casting call in the Alligator and, though she had never modeled before, signed up for it.
"I thought, ‘Why not?'" Rushing said.
While the audition process was unfamiliar and nerve-wracking, Rushing felt "super comfortable" posing for the photographer.
She was informed of her selection through a phone call and shared her excitement with her six siblings, parents and friends.
She also told her boyfriend of 10 months, Jason.
"At first he wasn't too fond of the idea," Rushing said, "but I showed him the picture, and he's really proud of me. He said that I looked beautiful."
When the magazine was released, Rushing's dad immediately went out and bought a copy, she said.
"His exact words were ‘very classy,' and he decided to say, ‘really nice eyes,'" she said.
Aside from her newfound modeling career, Rushing began dancing when she was 3 years old and jokingly considers studying a hobby.
Bentley, from Melbourne, Fla., began modeling when she was 6 years old, posing in costumes for a dance catalog.
She didn't model again until she was 17, when she took photos for a surf expo and websites.
After auditioning and being selected for the Playboy feature, Bentley submitted her pictures to Playboy's editor and was approved to take part in another photoshoot for the October/November 2011 issue of Special Edition Lingerie, another spinoff magazine.
Photos from the shoot also were used in June to feature Bentley as "Coed of the Week" on Playboy's website.
"Both shoots were easy, and I felt comfortable," Bentley said. "Once you've done it once, it makes it more comfortable the second time."
Bentley's family, including her two younger brothers, and friends are supportive of her modeling career. Her brothers are too young to have any comments on their sister's Playboy photos, she said.
Aside from her modeling career, Bentley owns Glow Gators, a tanning business she launched in June that offers to spray tan customers in a location of their choice.
"It started off slowly because I'm in school, but it's growing rapidly," Bentley said.
She said she would extend her career at Playboy, too, if given the opportunity.
In light of their experience, Rushing and Bentley have become good friends.
"We share something that a lot of people don't get the opportunity to share," Bentley said. "We're two women out of a university of 50,000 people that get to represent UF in an issue that's only published once every four years."
Both girls said they'd always be proud of their participation in the magazine, even when they have kids.
"I would be proud if my mom was in Playboy," Rushing said. "I'd represent that and be excited and happy about it."
Gabrielle Rushing and Jessica Bentley pose for a photo inside Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Wednesday. The two appear in Playboy's "Girls of the SEC" edition.
