News | Entertainment
15 Feb 2026 9:05
NZCity News
NZCity CalculatorReturn to NZCity

  • Start Page
  • Personalise
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • Finance
  • Shopping
  • Jobs
  • Horoscopes
  • Lotto Results
  • Photo Gallery
  • Site Gallery
  • TVNow
  • Dating
  • SearchNZ
  • NZSearch
  • Crime.co.nz
  • RugbyLeague
  • Make Home
  • About NZCity
  • Contact NZCity
  • Your Privacy
  • Advertising
  • Login
  • Join for Free

  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Holly Madison says the Playboy Mansion was like a "cult"

    The 'Girls Next Door' star dated Playboy founder Hugh Hefner - who died in 2017 aged 91 - from 2001 and 2008 and has revealed how "isolated from the outside world" she and her fellow Playboy Bunnies were.


    The 42-year-old model also claimed the girls were only allowed to leave the legendary Los Angeles pad for special reasons and were told not to invite friends over.

    In a preview of the upcoming A&E docuseries 'Secrets of Playboy', she

    spilled: "The reason I think the mansion was very cult-like, looking back on it, is because we were all kind of gaslit and expected to think of Hef as, like, this really good guy.

    "You started to feel like, 'Oh, he's not what they say in the media - he's just a nice man.'"

    The blonde bombshell added: "Another thing that reminds me of a cult is how it was so easy to get isolated from the outside world there.

    "You had a 9 o'clock curfew, you were encouraged to not have friends over.

    "You weren't really allowed to leave unless it was, like, a family holiday."

    'Secrets of Playboy' is a 10-part series and premieres on January 24.

    It will also feature an interview with former 'Bunny Mother' PJ Masten and promises to expose the "hidden truths" behind Hugh's empire.

    Holly recently claimed her Hugh was "literally pushed on top" of her on their first date.

    She initially agreed to go out with him when there was a "spot open"

    after one of his girlfriends left the Playboy Mansion, and although she wasn't expecting a "very traditional" first date, she thought she'd be given an introduction into life with the media mogul rather than being pushed into anything.

    She recalled: "I didn't really know what went on with them sexually. I figured something, and I was prepared for that. I wasn't prepared for what would eventually happen.

    "I wasn't necessarily expecting to have sex that night. I thought it would be more of a first date.

    "[I thought it] would be more of a type of thing where I saw what happened, saw what was going on, [and] if I wasn't comfortable with it, I wouldn't have to do anything."

    However, things moved far quicker than Holly expected and the 'Vegas Diaries' star was left "mortified and embarrassed" by the events of their first date.

    She recalled: "He was literally pushed on top of me. And after it happened, I was just mortified and embarrassed and it had way more of an emotional impact on me than I thought it would...

    "It wasn't that the idea of possibly having sex with him repelled me so much. It was more the group aspect that was really out of my comfort zone and just the feeling of like, 'Wow. That happened. Everybody knows it happened.'

    "All of a sudden it felt like everybody was going to know about me and I was horrified by it."

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

     Other Entertainment News
     15 Feb: Jena Malone has got engaged
     15 Feb: Priyanka Chopra has hired bodyguards to stop fans filming her "without consent"
     15 Feb: Chris Hemsworth had to "bribe" his daughter with a motorbike to appear in Avengers: Doomsday
     15 Feb: Gwyneth Paltrow underwent a treatment to filter toxins from her blood after battling "chronic fatigue" and "brain fog"
     15 Feb: Busy Philipps's heart is "deeply hurting" following James Van Der Beek's death
     15 Feb: Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni failed to reach a settlement deal on Wednesday (11.02.26)
     14 Feb: Lindsey Vonn is recovering after undergoing a third surgery following her frightening crash at the Winter Olympics
     Top Stories

    RUGBY RUGBY
    The Blues are ruing the one that got away...with the Chiefs scoring three minutes from fulltime to win their Super Rugby contest 19-15 in Auckland More...


    BUSINESS BUSINESS
    OpenAI has deleted the word ‘safely’ from its mission – and its new structure is a test for whether AI serves society or shareholders More...



     Today's News

    Entertainment:
    Jena Malone has got engaged 8:51

    Entertainment:
    Priyanka Chopra has hired bodyguards to stop fans filming her "without consent" 8:21

    Accident and Emergency:
    A person has died and three people have been hospitalised after a single vehicle crash in Whangarei's Ruatangata West 8:17

    International:
    Palestinians say Israel's new plans for the West Bank kill statehood hopes 8:07

    Rugby:
    The Blues are ruing the one that got away...with the Chiefs scoring three minutes from fulltime to win their Super Rugby contest 19-15 in Auckland 8:07

    International:
    What we know (and don't) about One Nation's rapid rise in the polls 7:57

    Motoring:
    No joy for the Kiwi drivers in the second race of the Jeddah E-Prix double header 7:57

    Entertainment:
    Chris Hemsworth had to "bribe" his daughter with a motorbike to appear in Avengers: Doomsday 7:51

    Health & Safety:
    New efforts to accommodate those recovering from spinal injuries 7:47

    Rugby:
    Ireland has beaten Italy 20-13 in their Six Nations rugby clash in Dublin 7:37


     News Search






    Power Search


    © 2026 New Zealand City Ltd