In honor of Autism Month, we’re revisiting one of our popular episodes from 2024 with former Playboy Playmate, Holly Madison. She reveals SHOCKING truths about her life in the Playboy Mansion....from her relationship with Hugh Hefner (who was 54 years her senior) to LOVE BOMBING, the dark side of STOCKHOLM SYNDROME, and BREAKING FREE and discovering herself.
Holly (bestselling author, podcaster, THE PLAYBOY MURDERS host & EP) opens up about how being diagnosed with autism recently affected her entire outlook on life and shares important signs that you might be in a manipulative relationship.
She discusses everything you’ve ever wondered about Playboy life, including:
- What enticed her about the Playboy mansion experience, how she came to live there, and how she became Hugh Hefner’s “Main girlfriend”
- Why she thinks she was an easy target for Hefner
- Tactics Hefner employed to keep women from leaving the mansion
- How she numbed herself through substance use to get through day-to-day life
- How interpersonal dynamics & intense sense of competition within the playboy mansion contributed to her body dysmorphia
- HEALING & EMPOWERMENT: What was Hefner really like behind closed doors? And how did she FINALLY break free from his grip?
- What led her to break her silence on the trauma she suffered during her time at the mansion
We’re unpacking her fascinating autism diagnosis, from the benefits of finally being diagnosed and how it negatively influenced her decision-making process, to how it informed her parenting style.
Holly breaks down:
- The real cost of giving up yourself in a harmful relationship
- Why people stay in harmful relationships, from fear of judgment to lack of financial stability
- Finding spirituality in storytelling & the places she lets her intuition guide her
- Her new mission as a free speech advocate!
- What she does to maintain positive mental health, including her superstitious vision board process
Mayim and Holly also bond over their love of true crime as Holly explains “The Playboy Curse”!
