Holly Madison has recalled her time living in the Playboy Mansion, saying the house could be “a little scary” at times.
The reality TV star, who dated former Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner from 2001 to 2008, exclusively told Page Six that when she decided to live in the mansion, she initially “thought it was a safe harbor.”
“And of course it turned out to be much more complicated than that,” she added.
Madison, who was just 21 when she moved into the Playboy Mansion and began dating Hefner, said the entertainment industry is full of “predatory people” who are “looking for young women who aren’t as sophisticated.”
The best-selling author recalled that she “recognized the danger that was out there” and believed Hefner’s home “would be a safe place to go” for the young woman.
During her years at the Playboy Mansion, Madison said she learned “how people can hit each other off so quickly.”
“It was a very ‘everybody does it for themselves’ kind of environment,” she recalled.
These days, Madison hosts the ID series “Leathly Blonde,” which just returned for season two.
This true crime series investigates the murders of people who had aspirations of entering the entertainment industry but met tragic ends.
Madison said she could “empathize” with the stories of the victims featured on the show.
“I think anytime you get involved in sex work or a more sexualized version of the entertainment industry, people can criticize you and want to ignore you,” she noted.
Madison was just one of Hefner’s lovers during their relationship, she in her 20s and he in his 70s and 80s.
He married Crystal Harris, 60 years his junior, in 2012, and they were together until her death in 2017 at the age of 91.
Madison said she can empathize with people being judged based on their preconceptions, recalling how many thought she was “a gold digger who was going to steal all of (Hefner’s) money.”
“It would be great to live in a nice house, but it was never really like that,” she said. “In fact, I was fascinated by him.”
Madison said, “I’m interested in the ‘opportunities’ that come with being a part of his world, but I was never the type of person who would marry him and steal his money.”
That world was depicted in the reality series “The Girls Next Door,” which aired from 2005 to 2009 and followed Hefner’s girlfriends and their lives at the Playboy Mansion.
“There was no residue,” Madison said of the show, referring to co-stars Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson.
She added, “In fact, we didn’t even get paid for our first season order.”
Madison is currently a mother of two – daughter Rainbow, 13, and son Forest, 9 – with ex-husband Pasquale Rotella, to whom she was married from 2013 to 2019.
Now, she’s “at peace” with her past at Playboy magazine, and said the only thing that “frustrates me” is the publicity surrounding her sex life with Hefner.
“I didn’t think anyone would care. And now that my kids are a little older, I have to stop talking about it,” she told us.
In May, TMZ reported that she had a new romance with Las Vegas lawyer Steve Dimopoulos.
Madison played coy, telling Page Six, “That’s what they say.”
“I like to get to know someone for, say, a year before the outside world finds out,” she explained. “I have been known to have bad taste in men in the past.”
“Leathly Blonde” Season 2 premieres June 1 at 10pm on ID and streams on HBO Max.
