Star Exclusive: The Girls Next Door's Bridget Tells All!
Star magazine's Editor at Large Julia Allison recently interviewed Bridget Marquardt from E!'s The Girls Next Door and she talked for the first time about her marriage, whether Holly's pregnant with Hugh Hefner's baby, the movie shooting at the mansion right now and her brand-new Sirius radio show, called the Bridget & Wednesday Friday Show (on Sirius 198, Playboy Radio, every Friday from 1-2 EST).
I love The Girls Next Door! Actually, I've read that a lot of women like it, which seems counter-intuitive to me.
We live a fantasy style life. I think they like to live vicariously through that.
I thought there would be more jealousy and disapproval — women can be a little catty.
When we started the show we thought the girls would be a harder catch. It's turned out to be just the opposite. I think they can relate to us. I think it's real and people can sense that it's real.
I was wondering — how long did it take you to get really comfortable with the cameras on you?
At first it was really weird. It takes a long time to get used to — but then when it was over, I was like where's my sound guy, my camera dude?
"Where's my entourage?!" ... So what's the latest mansion gossip?
Well, we're doing our new movie, HouseBunny — Anna Faris is the lead — we start filming on Monday. It's basically about our life at the Mansion — but not! Anna Faris is one of the girlfriends and we're in it, we play ourselves — and there's actually another girlfriend, the evil, young girlfriend, and Anna Faris gets kicked out, supposedly by Hef, but not really Hef, it's the evil girl who made it look like Hef kicked her out. So she's living on the streets and she becomes a sorority mom at UCLA and she turns the nerdy girls into hot chicks and they get all these pledges and they're all excited and the old hot sorority is mad and tries to steal their pledges and then Hef finds out she's living in the streets and he calls her to say 'I want you back, I want you to be Miss June.' Adam Sandler is producing. It's coming out next summer. It's going to be the big movie of the summer.
Did you ever have any idea it was going to blow up like this?
No, when I was living in Lodi and working at a cardiology office I knew I wanted something more. And I felt like I was going to do something more. I felt like that wasn't it for me — which is why I went ahead and pursued Playboy. I just needed to go for it. My biggest dream was to be a Playmate. I had no idea that I'd be living at the mansion, no idea that I'd be dating Hef and no idea I'd be on a reality show. I've been there almost six years and we've only been doing the show for 2 1/2 years. People would call us "Hef and his blonde bimbos" — we were never names — we were a just no-named part of the entourage — but with the show, we're people now!
Hef has an ego. Is he at all miffed by the attention you girls get?
He's more excited by the show than we are! We kind of live a sheltered life — we aren't out and about like Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton.
So he doesn't mind the attention?
He's amazed. But say we're on the red carpet — when they want to do individual pictures, he totally doesn't get it.
One of the things that's really struck me about the last couple of years — with specifically the Girls Next Door but Playboy in general — is this resurgence of the brand. In your opinion having been on the ground floor, why do you think that's happening? It has to say something about our culture.
I think people go through waves. They get really conservative, then they get open-minded, they want more freedom. The resurgence with females is like never before for Playboy — the show is helping.
Do you get any negative fan mail or negative reactions?
I don't get negative e-mails or fan mail but there's always criticism out there. The haters have so much time and so much energy — they call me fat and they say we're sluts and golddiggers — but I don't allow myself to go there. Because one negative comment can stay with me for a really long time.
You were married, right?
Well, I am in the process of getting divorced. But we are good friends and we've been good friends and he was totally supportive of me coming to L.A. There was just never any reason to make it final. We were good friends. Maybe we'll get back together. I'm happy doing this — I have a relationship with Hef now. We still talk on the phone. Hef's known from the start. You're actually the very first person that's even asked me about it. I'm 33, so if I hadn't have been married, I'd be feeling like an old maid right now! Because I've been there and done that, I feel like, no hurry!
There are constant rumors about Holly being pregnant.
Holly really wants to get married to Hef. She really wants to have kids and there's no secret about that. Hef is still legally married though [to 1989 Playmate of the Year Kimberly Conrad]. That's my other thing when people say, "Aren't you married?" I'm like, "Yeah, but so is Hef!" So that will take a while, even if he decided today that he was going to resolve that. Kimberly doesn't want to be on the show and she doesn't want the kids [she shares with Hef] on the show.
Are they part of his life?
They live next door and they do come over, but they don't really spend a lot of time or do a lot of things together. Kimberly really doesn't want them on the show. They're 15 and 16 years old.
So Holly's not pregnant now?
She is not pregnant. The funny thing is that she doesn't even want to be pregnant while we're still there. She wants kind of a normal life.
Do you think it's going to happen. Do you think they're going to get married eventually?
Married, I don't know, just because there are so many complications because of Kimberly. Kids, though, he's definitely saying, "Yeah, not right this second." He did save stuff for her. What do you call it? Banking it?
He banked his sperm for her?
Yes. I think she wants to be pregnant before she's 30 and have the baby before she's 30. So she's got two years.
Is there going to be a point where you're ready to live your life without a 9pm curfew?
We're all — including Hef — having so much fun doing the show, that nobody is ready to quit right now. We're shooting Season 4, there's even been talk of a Season 5. I know Holly wants to do her own show involving the studio, it would be really cool if she did get pregnant, I think that'd be a cool show.
Will Hef be changing diapers?
Yeah, that'll never happen, unless they make him do it. He already said, "I'm not going to be raising the kid, it'll be your thing."
At least he's honest!
