Down the Rabbit Hole - Holly Madison

CHAPTER 9
“It’s rather curious, you know, this sort of life!
I do wonder what can have happened to me!”
—Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
As The Girls Next Door continued on to season two, everything got . . . well, better. Filming
occupied most of our days, so our evenings were pretty quiet. With all the attention Hef was receiving
from the show, his ego was fully satisfied. He felt both famous and relevant again, and therefore
didn’t need to drag us out to nightclubs twice a week so the “adoring public” could ogle him. That
was a huge relief for me. Not only was I sick of nightclubbing and drinking, but with the club nights
now off the schedule, the post-club bedroom ritual also went out the window. It was definitely an
unexpected bonus. It was the first time Hef’s girlfriends could say “we don’t sleep with him” and it
would actually be true. Surprisingly, even though sex was out of the equation, Hef seemed happier
than ever. I guess there is something Hugh Hefner loves more than sex, and that’s fame.
Needless to say, for me, sex was never the highlight of the relationship. I was more than happy
now that our evenings were spent eating dinner in bed while watching The Sopranos or with Hef
fretting over a Sudoku puzzle while I did a crossword. We were like a typical old married couple.
The only difference was, only one of us was actually old.
For a time, the show’s success really bolstered spirits at the mansion. The three of us girls were
now getting paid for being on the reality TV hit and could finally start saving up some real money.
Playboy, as a brand, was hotter than ever. We were on our way to achieving that long-desired
harmony among the girlfriends. GND had become a project we bonded over. Many of the plotlines
became memorable common experiences, and the times the episodes would spotlight our
individualities made us feel special.
During season one, we visited Bridget’s hometown, Lodi, California. It was so cool, getting to
see her and her family in their “natural habitat,” i.e., outside of the mansion. We visited Kendra’s
hometown of San Diego as well. She and her family went out of their way to make us feel at home.
Kendra even coordinated a fun tour of her favorite spots and showed us her old home videos.
Although, I have to admit, watching Hef fawn over her childhood videos and threatening to take one
home made me really uncomfortable. When you’re 80 years old and dating a trio of 20-somethings,
you already look like a dirty old man. He didn’t need to give viewers any more ammunition.
For me, the last episode of season one was really special. We visited the Palms casino in Las