Reality star, actress, and model Madison McKinley is probably best known for her work on ABC’s “The Bachelor – Season 15,” where she was a contestant in the spring of 2011. You may not recognize her first name, but As a contestant on the popular reality series she was nicknamed “Fang Girl” which is how you might recognize her. There’s no doubt that McKinley earned bachelorette infamy, but she made waves when she appeared topless on DIRECTV Network’s “Damages” on July 27, 2011 (Season 4, Episode 3-I’d Rather My Old Office). Maybe this career change of hers will bring her more notoriety, or maybe it will launch her budding acting career.

Madison McKinley, born Madison Garton, the 25-year-old blonde bombshell was born in Vail, Colorado, where she grew up and attended Vail Mountain School. Her modeling career began in high school, when she auditioned for the Sports Illustrated swimsuit calendar. Although she didn’t quite make it, a major modeling agency noticed her and she moved to New York City, where she began her career as a model and actress.

McKinley’s credits begin in 2007, when he appeared on NBC’s “30 Rock.” Her breakout year was 2009, when she appeared in “Kings,” “Michael and Michael Have Issues,” and the popular “Rescue Me.” Although the producers of “The Bachelor” had a policy of not casting actresses as contestants, she saw that she had the it factor, and brought her on the show, where she clearly made waves.

McKinley seems to have a “thing” for vampires, and when he moved to New York, he had temporary vampire fang implants installed. Although he didn’t wear them in his previous television and modeling appearances, he did on “The Bachelor.” Brad Womack, the bachelor, was smitten with his appearance and personality, and actually found the fangs “hot.” Of course, this caused the consternation of the other contestants, who clearly thought that she was a weird girl who played. And so McKinley’s notoriety was born – “Fang Girl” clearly has negative connotations.

Fast forward to July 27, 2011, when McKinley appeared as a model on DIRECTV’s “Damages” starring Glenn Close. For the first time in her career as an actress and model, she showed her breasts for the whole world to see. The blogosphere went crazy: was this just another publicity stunt to gain fame recognition?

Let’s look at the “controversial” appearance. First of all, she was not in a sex scene, nor did she show full frontal nudity. The scene itself was not gratuitous. She was sleeping on the bed, with the frilly sheets not covering her completely. It was harmless and real. Of course, there was a naked man and woman on the bed, but that had to do with the plot. So what’s the problem with Madison McKinley going topless for “Damages”?

For now, McKinley’s toplessness is something unique. It wasn’t gratuitous, nor was it a shocking sex scene. It wasn’t full frontal, nor was it “full rear”, like another actress was in that episode. So was this a publicity stunt by Fang Girl, or was it a natural progression in her acting career, and one that any actress would do on “Damages”? You can decide for yourself. As you decide, keep in mind that she wasn’t topless in her appearance in the new Smurfs movie, either.