Holly Madison

Born Hollin Sue Cullen on December 23, 1979, in Astoria, Oregon, Holly Madison later moved with her family to Craig, Alaska, and then St. Helens, Oregon. She pursued higher education at Portland State University, majoring in theater and psychology, before relocating to Los Angeles to attend Loyola Marymount University. To support her studies, she worked as a Hawaiian Tropic model and a waitress at Hooters. At the age of 21, she moved into the Playboy Mansion, which marked a significant turning point in her public life and career trajectory.

Madison gained widespread recognition starring in the E! reality television series, ‘The Girls Next Door’ (2005-2009), documenting her life at the Playboy Mansion. Following this, she took on a lead role in the Las Vegas burlesque show ‘Peepshow’ (2009-2012) and starred in her own spin-off reality series, ‘Holly’s World’ (2009-2011), which chronicled her experiences in Las Vegas. Her career evolved with the release of two New York Times bestselling memoirs: ‘Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny’ (2015) and ‘The Vegas Diaries: Romance, Rolling the Dice and the Road to Reinvention’ (2016). These publications provided an personal perspective on her past and documented her journey of reinvention.

Beyond her television and writing work, Madison has appeared in various other productions, including guest roles in television series like ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’ (2010), ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ (2005), and ‘Entourage’ (2005), as well as films like ‘Scary Movie 4’ (2006) and ‘The House Bunny’ (2008). She also competed on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ in 2009. More recently, she has taken on executive producer roles for docu-series such as ‘The Playboy Murders’ (2023-2025) and ‘Lethally Blonde’ (2024-present), further establishing her presence in content creation and production.