Down the Rabbit Hole - Holly Madison

not.
HEF: Listen, I know how important all of this is to you. I’ll figure out some kind of
solution, honey.
In real reality, events didn’t play out that way. Bridget didn’t discuss the shower sequence with
Hef until after we saw the brown book—and long after the pictorial shoot had wrapped (which was
why Kendra appeared so agitated at having to shoot again). At the end of the episode that aired,
people can clearly see the two-shot of Kendra and me in the brown book when Hef is showing it to us
(the photo that went to press was the shot of the three of us in the shower).
Bridget was sensitive about how her reaction would be perceived, so she told producers she
wished to speak to Hef off camera and asked that they respect her privacy. The crew preferred to film
everything as it was happening, but they eventually agreed that Bridget could speak to Hef off camera.
Reality producers love to find loopholes, though.
Both Bridget and Hef were still mic’d when the conversation took place, so the post-production
crew dubbed their private dialogue over stock footage of Bridget and Hef playing with her cat, their
backs towards the cameras. Oh, the magic of Hollywood!
IN THE BEGINNING, I have to admit that I didn’t have a ton of faith in the process. I believed that
everyone was pigeonholing us into their preconceived ideas of who we were and that audiences
would see right through the facade—or, at very least, quickly become bored.
Perhaps there’s a reason I wasn’t a reality TV producer in 2005, because there was most
definitely a method to their madness.
Nearly a million viewers tuned in to watch the premier episode of The Girls Next Door. A
million! Overnight, the show became this pop culture sensation. The network immediately upped the
order from 8 to 15 episodes for season one. Every Monday we’d receive ratings from the previous
night’s airing, and every week they were higher than the last. Not only were audiences fascinated at
getting a glimpse inside the wondrous world of Playboy, but also at meeting Hef’s three girlfriends.
Kendra, Bridget, and I wouldn’t really grasp the scope of how major this was for years to come.
For her part, Kendra was reality TV gold—especially in 2005. America was at the height of its
obsession with dumb blondes. Paris Hilton and Jessica Simpson were among the most famous women
of the time due to their airheaded antics on their shows The Simple Life and Newlyweds: Nick and
Jessica. On camera, Kendra was spontaneous, carefree, and brimming with those bumbling mishaps
ripe for television. And let’s just say, when it came to Kendra, none of those dumb blonde moments
ever had to be scripted.
On top of being the house cheerleader and the emotional anchor to our trio, Bridget was also the
perfect attraction for more “conservative” viewers. With a serviceman brother, an adorable teenage
sister, and deep-rooted family values (despite living at the Playboy Mansion), she connected with
Middle America.
I added some levity to the show. Despite being delusional about my relationship with Hef, I