Holly Madison has opened up about life in the Playboy mansion. Photo / Getty Images
Former Playboy bunny Holly Madison has revealed what life in the Playboy Mansion was really like.
Hugh Hefner's infamous empire will be under scrutiny in a new US docuseries premiering next week titled The Secrets of Playboy, reports Fox News.
A new teaser shows Madison opening up about her experience at the mansion. Now 42, she dated Hefner from 2001 until 2008.
"The reason I think the mansion was very cult-like looking back on it is because we were all kind of gaslit and expected to think of Hef as like this really good guy," she said.
"And you started to feel like, 'Oh, he's not what they say in the media, he's just a nice man.'
"It was so easy to get isolated from the outside world there.
"You had a nine o'clock curfew. You were encouraged to not have friends over. You weren't really allowed to leave unless it was like a family holiday."
She also claimed Hefner urged her to quit her part-time waitressing job as it "made him jealous".
"So instead, we were given $1000 a week as an allowance."
In 2015, Madison wrote a memoir about her experiences titled Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny.
She recently opened up about her "traumatic" first sexual encounter with the Playboy boss.
"He was literally pushed on top of me ... and after it happened, I was just mortified and embarrassed and it had way more of an emotional impact on me than I thought it would."
In response to the docuseries, a Playboy spokesman issued a statement to Fox News declaring that "Today's Playboy is not Hugh Hefner's Playboy.
"We trust and validate these women and their stories and we strongly support those individuals who have come forward to share their experiences. As a brand with sex positivity at its core, we believe safety, security and accountability are paramount.
"The most important thing we can do right now is actively listen and learn from their experiences.
"We will never be afraid to confront the parts of our legacy as a company that do not reflect our values today.
"As an organisation with a more than 80 per cent female workforce, we are committed to our ongoing evolution as a company and to driving positive change for our communities."