Holly Madison Says “Lifestyle and Fame” Attracted Her to Posing For Playboy

Holly Madison opened up about the factors that attracted her to posing for Playboy in the fourth episode of the second season of her true crime series Lethally Blonde on Investigation Discovery.

The former Playmate dated Hugh Hefner from roughly 2001 to 2008, and lived at the infamous Playboy mansion.

Madison later appeared on the reality show The Girls Next Door alongside Hugh’s now-exes Bridget Marquardt and Kendra Wilkinson.

In Episode 4, Madison compared her former career to working in the porn industry. “Online porn is a huge industry. It’s a huge monkey maker. The porn industry is always looking for fresh faces,” she says. “Women are attracted to performing in porn for several different reasons. Maybe you want to express your sexuality in that way, or maybe you see it as an opportunity to get a lot of attention or perhaps make easy money.”

Madison continued, “There were so many things, for me, that were exciting about the possibility of posing for Playboy — and the lifestyle and the fame was a huge part of it. Today, porn is so mainstream that I imagine that appeals to a lot of women who go into it as well.”

In an earlier episode, Madison spoke about the risks that came with working at the adult magazine company and said that other people in the industry “are not there to be your friend.”

“Getting into the adult film industry can be a lot like being chosen to model for Playboy. You have agents, and directors, and producers who are all trying to get that finished product. It’s a business and people are there to make money,” Madison said.

She expressed that the security measures that performers have while performing don’t follow them off the premises. “You’re very safe, you’re behind these gates, you have security. But when you leave, performers find themselves getting into situations where their safety can be at risk,” she shared.

The fourth episode of the true crime series, “The Fall of Aubrey Gold,” tells the story of porn star Aubrey Gold who was found guilty of the 2020 murder of Raul Ambriz Guillen.

According to Fox News, Gold was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of felony probation upon her release.

Lethally Blonde airs Mondays at 10:00 p.m. ET on ID and streams on Discovery+.