Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt revealed the only celebrity who didn’t pay attention to them when they were Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends.
The former Playboy colleagues recalled how they frequently encountered a star who “acted like we didn’t exist on any level in such a strange way.”
On Monday’s episode of their podcast, Girls Next Level, Madison, 44, and Marquardt, 51, recalled the tension back then between them and that particular celebrity: Pamela Anderson.
At the time, they were Hefner’s girlfriends and were filming his series, The Girls Next Door.
While speaking about the season three episode, titled My Bare Lady, Madison, who spoke openly about her autism diagnosis late last year, said she was hesitant to mention Anderson’s on-screen appearance because she is “afraid of the opinions of the people.”
Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt revealed the only celebrity who didn’t pay attention to them when they were Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends; Pictured in February 2012 in Indianapolis.
On Monday’s episode of their podcast, Girls Next Level, Madison, 44, and Marquardt, 51, recalled the tension between them and that particular celebrity: Pamela Anderson; Pictured from October 2010 in London.
However, he said there is no problem, he just doesn’t know what happened.
“It’s not like a meat thing, and it’s not like I want to take this person out because it’s kind of stupid,” he said before adding that he wants to talk about the incident because he now perceives it “differently.”
“When I was 20, if someone was really rude or distant to me, especially consistently, I assumed it was a major problem,” she said.
Madison went on to explain that because she has now been diagnosed with autism, she views those types of interactions in a “different” light.
She said that when she was a Playboy playmate, she often ran into celebrities, who were either nice or not so nice.
Madison explained that Anderson was in the latter group.
“It was just that she did this weird thing where she always approached Hef wherever she ran into him… And she, like, fawned over him, and then he was surrounded by all these girls,” he said before explaining that Anderson wouldn’t recognize his girlfriends.
“She acted like we didn’t exist on any level in such a strange way,” he said. “The only reason I mention this is because I remember feeling like it was so strange that I wondered what that was all about.”
Madison said that there is no problem between them and Anderson, but that she just doesn’t know what happened; Pictured in March 2007 with Hugh Hefner in Las Vegas.
She said Anderson would ‘fade over’ Hefner but wouldn’t acknowledge his girlfriends
He said that later, Anderson would “recognize me a little bit toward the end.”
“In the episode where she brings out the cake naked, she gives me a big hug,” she said. ‘But at first, it was very different. And no one else was like that.’
It was then that he remembered the friendly encounters he had with stars like Jenny McCarthy, Carmen Electra and Paris Hilton.
Madison said she assumed at the time that Anderson was close to Hefner’s ex-wife, Kimberley Conrad, whom he divorced in 2010, or “maybe she was at such a weird level of fame where people always wanted something from her that she didn’t want to.” Be comfortable talking to people.’
Madison also speculated that “maybe she had an experience where she tried to talk to Hef’s girlfriends before, and it went very poorly.”
Marquardt then chimed in: ‘I also thought it was strange that she completely ignored us and yet fawned over Hef so much when her friends were literally sitting there.
“I guess when people act like that, they just assume we’re all in it strictly for the money and don’t give a damn,” Madison added. “But that wasn’t the case with us.”
Madison then tried to set the record straight and explain that she has no animosity toward Anderson and said she felt empathy toward the Baywatch star.
She speculated that “maybe (Pamela Anderson) had an experience where she tried to talk to Hef’s girlfriends before, and it went very badly”; photographed in January 2007 in Los Angeles.
Marquardt then chimed in: “I also thought it was strange that she completely ignored us and yet fawned over Hef so much when her friends were literally sitting there.”
Madison then attempted to set the record straight and explain that she has no animosity toward Anderson and said she felt empathy toward the Baywatch star; photographed in October 2024 in Los Angeles
‘Look, I’m the most socially awkward person on the planet. I’m sure there are a million people, especially from the pre-2004 mansion era, who would love to come forward and say how damned I am. So I understand it, but I also don’t understand it, because it was very extreme and like that every time.”
While they were Hefner’s girlfriends, Madison, Marquardt and Wilkinson starred on The Girls Next Door for five seasons, from 2005 to 2009.
The sixth season followed three new girlfriends, including Crystal Harris, who married Hefner in 2012.
The founder and editor-in-chief of Playboy magazine died in 2017 at the age of 91.
