Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, Hugh Henfner and Kendra Wilkinson. Image Source: NY Post
Holly Madison talks about IVF with Hugh Hefner.
Holly Madison recently spoke to Entertainment Tonight’s Lauren Zima about the release of her new podcast, "Girls Next Level," along with Bridget Marquardt and Holly Madison, and opened up about why the IVF treatment process with Hugh Hefner was kept off the show.
Holly said that she did not think about it just because even when she did go on to have kids, she would try not to talk about it until the three-month mark, and it was solely because she wanted to be safe. Holly Madison, who appeared on Girls Next Door from 2005 to 2009, shared that because she did not want the scrutiny on something like IVF, which may or may not work, she did not want her IVF journey with Hugh Hefner to play out on TV for the public.
During the conversation, Holly Madison said that somewhere she is glad that the IVF process with Hugh Hefner did not work and added that she went on to have the kids of her dreams. Holly Madison shared Rainbow and Forest with her ex-husband, Pasquale Rotella, and mentioned she is so thankful for them.
Bridget Marquardt, on the other hand, explained that she did egg retrieval while they were at the mansion and that she advocated for the makers to show it because she believed, and still believes, that it was an important message that needed to be shown. She claimed that her baby planning was not included or filmed for the show for entirely different reasons.
According to Bridget Marquardt, the producers declined to shoot it and informed her that doing so would indicate that she was making plans for a life outside of the estate, which was something they were not interested in publicizing.
Holly admitted that they were misled and misunderstood due to the editing and mentioned that the first few episodes of the show left her horrified. She continued that she feels that she was edited out to look like she did not have any personality or interests, as she was in school for real estate investment at the time, but it was never mentioned. Holly added that once you can see the books on the side of her bed, you can see her studying, but the makers never bothered to mention it and mentioned that it’s kind of done dirty with that.
Bridget Marquardt agreed that episodes one, two, and three were horrifying after watching and said that she kept thinking that they were edited out in a way that was just so detrimental. Bridget mentioned that although at the time they were in their bubble and everything seemed like it was okay and there was a payoff at the end of it, looking at the time now makes her think that she is not the same person anymore.
Bridget Marquardt and Holly Madison appeared on the show with Kendra Wilkinson and said that they were not naive to understand the powers of editing, making an effort to make them look the way they were not, and they tried to voice it out, but it was not always easy for them. Holly said that Bridget, she, and Kendra had a pact that they were not going to get offended by the edits or anything because they believed that the show needed drama and they had to do it.
Bridget Marquardt continued that there were a lot of little things that they just knew that the makers needed for a reality TV show, so they just allowed it to happen and described it as that they took one for the team, but now looking at it back, they have realized that a lot of those things were probably set up for them to not get along together because things kind of do grow and one starts to think.
Both ladies are appreciative of the series and the avenues it offered despite editing issues. Holly Madison stated that she has always claimed that the show saved her life because it gave us so many opportunities and it made us valuable in Hef's eyes because we were now assets. Holly Madison felt that after the show was established when he saw that we had a following and that the audience was invested in their relationship, he treated her a lot better. Holly went on to state that one of the reasons she claims the program was fantastic for her in so many ways is that she has seen comments from fans claiming that they wanted Hugh and her to get married, which made Hugh Hefner extra into her.
The show opened up the possibility of being able to venture outside the mansion a little bit to go exploring and engage in activities, according to Bridget Marquardt, who claimed that it was difficult to convince Hef to go and do anything because he didn't want to travel and preferred to stay at the mansion. Holly concurred, saying that it was absurd and felt out of character for a reality program, especially one with three major characters. They were treated somewhat like children, which was strange. You guys reside here, so you're simply going to do this performance because I want you to, right?
When asked why she didn't speak up for herself right away, Madison says that she was in that relationship with Hef for four years and that it was very demanding because she was the main girlfriend. She also says that she was afraid to ask for anything because she was afraid of being yelled at or something. When Marquardt and Wilkinson did inquire "about things like the contract and being paid," she said that their inquiries were not warmly welcomed.
She said, they told them that if we didn't want to do it, there would be a million females who wanted to be in their shoes, and they know where the door is. The ex-girlfriend of Hugh Hefner said that she didn't blame Hef at the time; she just felt like it was coming more from the executive producer making those types of judgments.
