We thought life in the Playboy Mansion would be glam…but we were graded A-D for our looks & the bedroom was traumatising
THEY were young women and thought that life in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion was the ultimate dream, one that so many others could only dream of.
But Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt very soon realised that being a Playboy Bunny wasn’t so glamorous – and their life soon became a living nightmare.
For years, both Playboy models were one of Hugh’s original girlfriends on The Girls Next Door – but although for many fans it all seemed full of glam and glitz, the reality was darker.
Airing from 2005 to 2010, The Girls Next Door gave TV viewers an inside peek of the Playboy Mansion, starring Hugh Hefner’s then three main girlfriends Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson.
Bridget, 51, and Holly, 41, have since spilled the beans on what really was taking place behind the closed doors of Hefner’s mansion, where the late magazine publisher lived until his death in 2017.
The bubbly pair – both of whom have since become TV personalities – met at the multi-million property where they lived together for seven years.
In the early 2000s, Bridget recalled, the mansion ”was the place to be”.
”Everyone wanted to be there – every celebrity, every girl that I knew of wanted to be a part of it, wanted to be a playmate, go to the parties.
”They had the best parties in the world there.
”It’s the place that you wanted to go and you wanted to be seen, and you wanted to be a part of that whole lifestyle.”
During their time at the lavish California-based pad – which had a total of 29 rooms – the pals met some of the biggest A-listers, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz and George Clooney.
As no one was allowed cameras and there would be no paparazzi, ”people felt comfortable going there and partying”, Holly explained.
But whilst the big names in the showbiz industry were living the high life, Hugh’s girlfriends ”were required to sit at the table the whole time and ask if you needed to get up to go to the bathroom”.
”You could dance a little – but you were kind of greeting everybody […], so we definitely didn’t feel free.”
Just like the others living at the glam mansion, Holly and Bridget felt the pressure to stick to the trending beauty standards at the time – and ”eating disorders were really rampant”.
”There was a lot of bulimia in the mansion – to the point where people would end up in the hospital sometimes.
Facts you didn't know about the Playboy Mansion
Girlfriends vs Playmates
Rumour has it that Hugh Hefner would have two to a dozen “girlfriends” living with him at a time. These girlfriends are not to be confused with playmates. Each girlfriend had their own room, but one “special lady” was named as girlfriend number one and stayed with Hef in his room. Each girlfriend received a $1000 a week bonus “allowance.”
Hef’s Wild side
The Playboy mansion is home to a private zoo. It is one of very few private residences that actually has a zoo license. Hefner is a fan of birds and they can be found all over the grounds. There are plenty of peacocks, macaws, flamingos, toucans and ducks. The highlight is a cage that houses approximately 100 squirrel monkeys.
The Elvis Legend
Within the mansion is a secret room, called “The Elvis Room.” Legend has it that the King himself, Elvis Presley, had a little slumber party in the room with up to eight eager bunnies.
”To the point where the bathroom pipes had to be replaced.”
Bridget bravely confessed, being labelled ”the big girl”, that they would try to ”fat-shame” her -and to this day struggles with the nasty comments.
To land yourself at spot at the glam pad, which Hugh purchased for $1million, women also had to be of certain age – and there was a limit too.
”That was definitely thing at Playboy,” said Holly.
”I feel like the unspoken cut-off age for like a Playmate was 28.”
The grading system
Those who had made into the villa would also have Polaroids taken during the many star-studded bashes – which Hugh, who passed away at 91, would then grade from A to D.
”D – you’re not invited back, C – you’re maybe on the big party list, B – you’re on all the party lists, A – you get invited to the pool parties and stuff like that,” Holly revealed.
But the graded snaps, the pair said in a recent podcast, were the least of their worries.
The 41-year-old blonde said: ”When I think about the worst thing, I just think about anything in the bedroom and just the fact that anyone would be invited in there.
”We didn’t get to agree on who got to come in and who got to watch, and who got to do whatever – and it was just traumatising.”
Bridget agreed, saying that it couldn’t get ”any worse” than what happened in the bedrooms.
”We had no voice during that time – it was really hard.”
”Looking back, it took me a few years to de-programme,” chimed in Holly who kept the dark secrets to herself after a few years of leaving the mansion for good.