Maria Kanellis is crossing over from television to magazines -- in a revealing way.

The Ottawa native will be on the cover of -- and the subject of a nude pictorial feature in -- the next print edition of Playboy, said Theresa Hennessey, publicity director of the magazine.

Kanellis' status as a World Wrestling Entertainment "Diva" -- male performers are branded as "Superstars" -- is the reason she will be in the April issue, which is due to hit newstands and bookstores Friday, March 7.

"We have a great relationship with the WWE," Hennessey told The Times. "She's one of their more popular Divas, so it just made sense to make her the choice."

Since 2003, WWE female personalities have been featured in Playboy prior to WrestleMania, the professional wrestling organization's major spring pay-per-view television event.

WrestleMania XXIV will be Sunday, March 30, at the Citrus Bowl football stadium in Orlando, Fla.

Playboy's print edition has a circulation of 2.6 million, Hennessey said. She added that Kanellis, who will turn 26 later this month, will be the only WWE Diva to be in April's Playboy.

"She's one of our most popular, engaging, entertaining and beautiful Divas. It was a no-brainer," Kevin Hennessy, WWE director of publicity, said when asked why the group chose her to appear in the magazine.

A 2000 graduate of Ottawa Township High School and onetime Northern Illinois University student, Kanellis has been on WWE shows since 2004. The same year, she was a contestant on "Outback Jack," an Australia-based reality show telecast on the TBS network. She also recently appeared with other WWE Divas on "Project Runway," the fashion design reality series on the Bravo cable TV network.

Kanellis regularly is featured on "Monday Night Raw," which airs 8 p.m. weekly on the USA Network, and on the Web site www.wwe.com.

According to that Web site, Kanellis has acted as an interviewer and wrestler for WWE and writes an auto care column for the organization's monthly magazine. Video, still photos and audio of Kanellis' entrance theme also are on the Web site.