Holly Madison Reveals What Life Was Really Like Behind The Gates Of The Mansion: “A Little Bit Scary”

Holly Madison, the model and New York Times bestselling author who dated Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner between 2001 and 2008, has revealed the truth of living in his 21,987-square-foot house.

While the Los Angeles property served as a venue for several high-profile parties with guest lists that included pop culture figures such as Kim Kardashian, Paris Hilton, Bill Maher, and Drew Barrymore, for Madison it was only ever a “safe harbor.”

Madison said she stayed at the mansion with Hefner and his other girlfriends to escape “predatory people” in the entertainment industry who went after “young women.”

On occasions, though, the house turned “a little bit scary” for her.

Holly Madison, Hugh Hefner’s ex-girlfriend, has shared insights into her life at his infamous mansion

Image credits: Getty/Denise Truscello

Madison was only 21 when she began dating Hefner and moved into his residence, thinking she would have the protection of his name and his standing in showbiz.

However, things “turned out to be so much more complicated than that,” she told Page Six on Monday, June 1.

During her years at Hefner’s mansion, Madison said she learned “how people can turn on each other” in a short span of time.

“It was very much an ‘everybody out for themselves’ kind of environment,” she said.

Image credits: Getty/Lawrence Lucier

Madison’s latest revelation followed her May 5 appearance on Kristin Cavallari’s podcast Let’s Be Honest, where she shared details about Hefner’s bedroom habits.

Hefner, according to Madison, took turns getting intimate with girls while a giant screen played adult content.

Calling the scene “weird,” Madison said none of the girls involved with Hefner “liked it, and everybody just tried to get it done as fast as possible.”

Image credits: hollymadison

Madison said that she attempted to leave Hefner several times, but he manipulated her into staying. 

She claimed the media mogul dangled his will in front of her so she could see how much money would be left to her if she continued their relationship.

He also left tabloid articles in her vicinity discussing how she and other women in the mansion would lose their relevance if they left him. 

Holly Madison claimed the opportunities afforded by Hugh Hefner’s circle were the only reason she stayed

Image credits: Getty/Carlo Allegri

Madison, who is currently hosting Investigation Discovery series Lethally Blonde, which explores homicide cases involving people who had showbiz aspirations, said she can “relate” to one too many victim stories featured on the show.

“I think anytime you’re involved in s** work, or anything that’s a more s**ualized version of the entertainment industry, people can judge you and want to just write you off,” she told Page Six.

Image credits: Getty/Denise Truscello

Madison said she sympathized with people facing judgment because of preconceived stereotypes, reminiscing about how many thought she was “a gold digger out to steal all of [Hefner’s] money.”

“It was never really like that,” she said, adding that she was interested in the “opportunities” that “being part of his world could provide.”

Madison said she was “never the person who was trying to get married and steal money or anything like that.”

After Madison moved out of the mansion in 2009, Crystal Harris became Hefner’s primary girlfriend, and the two married in 2012. 

The pair, who shared a 60-year age gap, remained together until his demise in 2017 at age 91.

Madison’s life after Hefner saw her marry Pasquale Rotella and embrace motherhood 

Image credits: Getty/Michael Bezjian

Madison began dating Pasquale Rotella, CEO of Insomniac Events — one of the world’s largest Electronic Dance Music promoters — in late 2011 after moving to Las Vegas to pursue her burlesque career. 

Rotella proposed to Madison at the top of a Ferris wheel in June 2013. They tied the knot at Disneyland in California in September of the same year.

The pair’s firstborn, daughter Rainbow Aurora Rotella, who was six months old at the time of the ceremony, acted as the guest of honor.

@crookedmedia Holly Madison talks about the catalog of non-consensual photographs taken at the Playboy Mansion. #LovettorLeaveIt#BravoAmerica#CrookedMedia#HollyMadison♬ original sound – Crookedmedia

Rotella and Madison welcomed another child, Forest Leonardo Antonio Rotella, in 2016.

They separated in 2019. Madison says she is now fully focused on raising her kids and shielding them from her past as much as she can.

“Because my kids are getting a little bit older, I kind of have to stop talking about that [her and Hefner’s history],” Madison told Page Six.

Image credits: IMDb

TMZ reported last month that she is currently dating Las Vegas lawyer Steve Dimopoulos.

Madison played coy about the reporting in her Page Six interview, saying, “That’s what they say.”

“I would love to get to know somebody for like a year before the outside world knows about it,” she added. “I have notoriously had some bad taste in men in the past.”

“Now it’s horrifying, hmm,” a netizen remarked about Madison’s revelations

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