Holly Madison is reflecting on her time living in the Playboy Mansion, dishing that the house could be “a little bit scary” at times.
“And, of course, it turned out to be so much more complicated than that,” she added.
Madison, who was just 21 when she moved into the Playboy Mansion and began dating Hefner, said there are “a lot of predatory people” in the entertainment industry “who are looking for young women who aren’t that sophisticated.”
The best-selling author recalled being “aware of the dangers out there” for young women and believing Hefner’s home “would be a safe place to go.”
During her years at the Playboy Mansion, Madison said she learned “how people can turn on each other so quickly.”
“It was very much an ‘everybody out for themselves’ kind of environment,” she remembered.
These days, Madison is hosting the ID series “Lethally Blonde,” which just returned for Season 2.
The true-crime series explores murder cases of people who had showbiz aspirations and had their stories end in tragedy.
Madison said she can “relate” to the victims’ stories explored on the show.
“I think any time you’re involved in sex work, or anything that’s a more sexualized version of the entertainment industry, people can judge you and want to just write you off,” she noted.
Madison was just one of Hefner’s lovers during their relationship, with her in her 20s and him in his 70s and 80s.
He went on to marry Crystal Harris, who was 60 years his junior, in 2012, and they remained together until his death in 2017 at age 91.
Madison said she can relate to facing judgement because of people’s preconceived stereotypes, reminiscing how many thought she was “a gold digger out to steal all of [Hefner’s] money.”
“While living in a nice house is nice, it was never really like that,” she said. “It was more that I was fascinated by him.”
Madison said she was interested in the “opportunities” that “being part of his world could provide,” but she was “never that person who was trying to get married and steal money or anything like that.”
That world was depicted on the reality series “The Girls Next Door,” which ran from 2005 to 2009 and followed Hefner’s girlfriends and their lives at the Playboy Mansion.
“We never got any residuals,” Madison revealed of the show, referencing co-stars Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson.
She added, “In fact, we didn’t even get paid for the first season order.”
Madison is now a mom of two — daughter Rainbow, 13, and son Forest, 9 — both of whom she shares with ex-husband Pasquale Rotella, whom she was married to from 2013 to 2019.
Now at “peace” with her Playboy past, the “Sharknado 3″ star said the only thing that “annoys” her is when she makes headlines for talking about her sex life with Hefner.
“I just didn’t really think anyone would care. And because my kids are getting a little bit older, I kind of have to stop talking about that,” she told us.
In May, TMZ reported that she has a new romance with Las Vegas lawyer Steve Dimopoulos.
“I would love to get to know somebody for, like, a year before the outside world knows about it,” she explained. “I have notoriously had some bad taste in men in the past.”
“Lethally Blonde” Season 2 premieres June 1 on ID at 10 p.m. and streams on HBO Max.
