Not holding back. Over the years, Holly Madison has been vocal about her time in the Playboy mansion and that will continue in A&E’s upcoming documentary series Secrets of Playboy.
“I didn’t realize that getting into the Playboy world was a dangerous choice,” the model, 41, said in the promo for the series released on Tuesday, August 17.
The 10-part show will look into the work of the late Hugh Hefner, whom Madison lived with at the mansion from 2001 to 2008. The documentary event will dive deeper into the Playboy empire and will also include interviews with the former director of Playmate Promotions Miki Garcia, Hefner’s past girlfriends Bridget Marquardt and Sondra Theodore, the publisher’s personal valet Stefan Tetenbaum, Bunny Mother PJ Masten and some of Hefner’s closest friends.
“He didn’t want people to know what was really going on,” Jennifer Saginor, who also lived in the mansion, said in the trailer about Hefner. “The people who were really there, they’re the ones who know the real truth.”
Elaine Frontain Bryant, the head of programming at A&E, said in a statement that the network is “proud to lift the veil on these long-hidden stories” that those in Hefner’s inner circle have been keeping. She added, “Breaking down barriers and exposing the truth, Secrets of Playboy is a masterful example of brave storytelling that takes an unflinching look at the personal affects of Hugh Hefner’s empire, while also exploring his legacy’s larger influence on our society and modern-day views of sexuality.”
Additionally, the series “explores how the Playboy machine was a powerful force that, at its worst, manipulated women in a toxic environment, silencing their voices, pitting them against one another, and opening the door to sexual predators,” according to the release.
Earlier this year, Madison opened up about her time in the mansion during a podcast interview.
“It’s a very cult-like atmosphere anyway and you’re manipulated to feel that way, but on top of it, my own shame kept me there too. I just couldn’t really imagine a life outside of there,” the Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny author said in April on the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “Imagine having sex with somebody in a room full of women who all hate you and you know they’re all talking s—t about you. Like, how horrible? It was gross.”
Secrets of Playboy is set to debut on A&E in early 2022.
