Holly Madison‘s 7-year stint as a Playboy Bunny is at the forefront of her mind when she navigates certain topics with her two children.
While chatting with Us Weekly, the former model revealed how her experience living in the Playboy Mansion hugely impacted the way she talks to her daughter Rainbow, 11, and son Forest, 8, about food, nutrition, and bodies.
In the past few years, Madison has opened up about the prevalence of disordered eating in the Playboy household. She spoke about her own experience with body dysmorphia in a 2021 TikTok video, and during a 2023 appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Madison elaborated further on the “rampant” eating disorders battled by Playboy models living in Hugh Hefner’s infamous mojo dojo casa house.
“There was a lot of bulimia at the mansion, to the point where people would end up in the hospital sometimes,” Madison told podcast host Alex Cooper. The Down the Rabbit Hole author said that household endemic was so severe that “bathroom pipes had to be replaced.”
Those memories are impacting Madison more than ever the older her children get. To help Rainbow and Forest avoid body dysmorphia and disordered eating, the mom of two told Us, “We’re really focused on healthy eating. I’m really careful not to say anything about dieting or weight or anything in front of my kids.” She added, “If they’re trying to shove something unhealthy in front of me, I just say, ‘Oh, I’m doing a health thing.'”
Because of her experiences with Playboy, in addition to some difficult moments from her childhood, Madison emphasized that she’s “really focused” on ensuring her daughter “values the things she enjoys and that she’s passionate about.”
“We don’t want her to get into the mode where she’s really focused on the way she looks, or trying to get attention for the way she looks or validation through that,” the Girls Gone Wild alum explained. She continued, “I think we’ve been really successful so far. She’s on a better track than I was at that age for sure. I was already trying to look some sort of way when I was 11.”
Madison dated Hefner from 2001 to 2008, and though they tried IVF, they never had children. The former model reflects on the failed fertility treatments with gratitude — in 2022, Madison told Entertainment Tonight, “Looking back I’m so glad it didn’t work ’cause I went on to have the kids of my dreams.”
Two years after her split from the Playboy patriarch, Madison began dating Pasquale Rotella, whom she married in October 2013 just months after welcoming Rainbow that March. The former couple added Forest to their family in August 2016 and ultimately divorced in 2018.
Before you go, check out these celebrity parents who are raising strong, resilient daughters.
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