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18 Dec 2025 5:19
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  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Holly Madison thinks season one of 'The Girls Next Door' was a "character assassination"

    The 45-year-old TV personality starred on the reality series between 2005 and 2009, but Holly believes she was initially portrayed in an unfairly negative way


    Speaking to Us Weekly, Holly explained: "The first couple of episodes, we felt like we were characterised in a way that really wasn't flattering.

    "I was watching it, like, this is character assassination. I don't like it.

    "But as the seasons go on, we're allowed to show more of our personality, and I think viewers got to know who we really are more - so that feels good."

    The show focused on the lives of Holly, Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson, who were the three main girlfriends of the late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner.

    Madison now co-hosts the 'Girls Next Level' podcast with Bridget, and Madison admits that they have contrasting memories of the TV show.

    She shared: "I think [Bridget] had just tied everything up in such a positive bow and had kind of forgotten any of the negatives.

    "So when we go back and rewatch and comment on it, she's like, 'Oh my god, I forgot about this.' I remember after watching the first episode, she's like, 'I don't think I can do this podcast.' I'm like, 'No, it gets better. I promise.' I had already rewatched a lot of it from YouTube and that's what gave me the idea to do the podcast. And I'm like, 'Trust me, it gets better. The hardest part is season one and then it gets better."

    Despite this, Holly concedes that it was the "most bizarre show that was ever on television".

    She said: "There's two different ways you can watch the show. You can just sit back at it and appreciate the eye candy and the fun stuff we got to do, or you can look at it knowing what was really going on behind the scenes and seeing all those layers ... It's almost like every successful show in the past has been rebooted in some way or another except 'Girls Next Door'. It's kind of the one you can't do."

    © 2025 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

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