Holly Madison has revealed shocking new secrets from her life in the Playboy mansion in a new tell-all titled Down The Rabbit Hole.
The bubbly blonde moved into the mansion with Hugh Hefner in 2001 and later became his number one girlfriend. Her day-to-day life with the Playboy head honcho was chronicled for five seasons on E!’s popular Girls Next Door television series, which she starred in alongside fellow girlfriends Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson.
While the show painted a positive picture of Hugh and the women, Holly’s book reveals the truth was much darker. She says Hef offered her drugs the very first time they met, when she was a 21-year-old waitress working at Hooters. According to her book (as excerpted by Us Weekly), Hef told her the pills (Quaaludes) were called “thigh openers” in the ’70s.
After moving into the mansion, Holly says the competitive atmosphere between the women wore down her natural self-confidence. Even worse, she claims Hef would manipulate his girlfriends to amp up the drama.
Holly, Hef and his second girlfriend Bridget Marquardt. Image: Luke Ford/Wikimedia
“I learned Hef was the manipulator and that he pitted us against one another. I realized I wasn’t treated well,” she told Us Weekly.
Holly also claims Hef was controlling over her appearance, spitting at her when she cut her hair shorter and telling her she looked “old, hard and cheap” at one point. Things got so bad, Holly says she even contemplated ending her own life.
The final straw came when she was accused of cheating on him with illusionist Criss Angel in 2008. Holly says Hef offered to leave her US$3 million in his will if she stayed, but she left the mansion and hasn’t seen him again.
Since leaving Hef behind, Holly has married music festival organiser Pasquale Rotella and the couple are raising their two-year-old daughter Rainbow. Although her explosive book is sure to cause ripples in the Playboy world, the 35-year-old says she’s not worried.
“I don’t have any loyalty to Hef. I haven’t talked to him in four years, so there’s no reason to reach out now. Besides, it’s the truth,” Holly tells Us Weekly.
Holly with her husband and daughter.
Image: Holly Madison/Instagram
