Bridget Marquardt And Holly Madison Get Candid On Traumatizing Girls Next Door Experience
Once seen as a fun slice of 2000s camp, "The Girls Next Door" is one of many reality shows from the decade to age less than gracefully. The E! series, which ran for six seasons from 2005 to 2010, followed the lives of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and his live-in girlfriends at the Playboy Mansion. Despite the concept's obvious sleazy side, life at the mansion was portrayed as fun and glamorous, with its stars receiving spinoffs and even a cameo in the 2008 comedy "The House Bunny."
However, in the years since "The Girls Next Door's" conclusion, along with Hefner's death in 2017, former girlfriend Holly Madison has spoken out against her time in the mansion with some disturbing details. In Madison's 2015 memoir "Down the Rabbit Hole," she alleged Hefner bribed her to stay at the mansion when she was considering leaving, and also revealed that neither she nor co-stars Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson were paid for their participation in "The Girls Next Door." More recently, in the A&E docuseries "Secrets of Playboy," Madison accused Hefner of "love bombing" his girlfriends to gain their trust, and pressuring them into having sex with him (via Us Weekly).
While Wilkinson has hit back against Madison's claims and continues to defend Hefner, Madison has remained in touch with Marquardt, who backs up the allegations. Now, the duo is rewatching the show that made them famous, and they have plenty of thoughts.
Bridget Marquardt and Holly Madison call out their edit on Girls Next Door
Despite making them household names in the 2000s, Bridget Marquardt and Holly Madison's relationship with "The Girls Next Door" is complicated at best. The former girlfriends of Hugh Hefner are set to release the first episode of their joint podcast, "Girls Next Level," and are getting a refresher on their breakout show in the meantime. On August 16, they appeared on "Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald," sharing their thoughts on the rewatch to promote their podcast. Unfortunately, it dug up some negative emotions for both of them.
"Holly warned me that the first three episodes were really hard to watch," said Marquardt. "I just watched them not last night, but the night before. And I'm still traumatized. I'm sick to my stomach. I can't sleep, I've been crying." In an early episode of the show, one scene depicts Marquardt supposedly tampering with new Playmates' drinks to sabotage their upcoming photoshoot. However, according to Madison, no such thing happened and it was all an editing trick.
Madison also spoke about her experiences, recalling the first time she slept with Hefner and noting that co-star Kendra Wilkinson got special treatment from the show's editors. When it came to fabricated moments that made Marquardt and Madison look bad, Madison claimed, "They never did that to Kendra. Ever." Hopefully, the pair's podcast will give them a chance to reclaim the narrative around "The Girls Next Door" and come to terms with their trauma.