Holly Madison Reveals the Real Reason Why She Left Playboy Mogul Hugh Hefner

Holly Madison had a lot to say about her relationship and subsequent split with Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey for Oprah: Where Are They Now, which aired Saturday, the f...
Holly Madison Reveals the Real Reason Why She Left Playboy Mogul Hugh Hefner
Written by Pam Wright
  • Holly Madison had a lot to say about her relationship and subsequent split with Playboy mogul Hugh Hefner.

    In an interview with Oprah Winfrey for Oprah: Where Are They Now, which aired Saturday, the former 35-year-old Playboy Playmate, said she finally came to her senses after a rocky seven-year relationship with the 89-year-old Hefner.

    “Hef and I started hitting kind of a rocky patch when it became clear that Bridget [Marquardt] and Kendra [Wilkinson] were leaving, they were moving on to new things,” Madison said. “I just had enough and just realized all the delusions I’d been under and that this was no longer the life for me.”

    Madison, who wrote a tell-all, Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny, about her experiences as Playboy Bunny, claimed that that Hefner tried to bribe her to stay. She told Oprah that as she began collecting her belongings from Hefner’s room, she found his will stating that he had left her $3 million, according to E! News.

    “It was very clear to me that he’d left that out for me to see, because he was hoping it would change my mind and get me to stay,” said Madison. “But it just kinda disgusted me more than anything because all he can do is say, ‘Oh, here, I’m gonna throw you some money to get you to stay.’ It just grossed me out.”

    In June, Madison, who is now married to Pasqualle Rotella and is mother to daughter Rainbow, two, told Us Weekly she decided to write a book detailing her time at the mansion.

    “I’ve gotten offers for book deals before, especially right after I left the mansion,” the former Playboy Bunny told Us. “ But I didn’t want to do it then because I didn’t want to do just a tell-all about someone. I wanted this to be my life story — about what I’ve learned and where I’ve gone — and I’ve finally gotten to a place where I felt that I could tell that story.”

    Holly Madison’s first book, Down the Rabbit Hole, made the New York Times best-seller list after its release in June. The Girls Next Door alum told Us Weekly that she is writing a second book. The book, tentatively titled If I Had a Date, is about relationships and set for a summer 2016 release.

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