We were Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends – what Valentine’s Day...

THEY were young women who were convinced that life as a Playmate in the legendary Hugh Hefner's mansion was everything anyone could ever dream of. But ever since leaving the multi-million property where they lived together for almost a decade, Holly Madison and Bridget Marquardt have spilled the beans on what being a Playboy Bunny was really like. For years, both Playboy models were one of Hugh’s original girlfriends on The Girls Next Door - but although for many fans it all seemed full of glam and glitz, the reality was far darker.

Image Credit: The Sun [two women on a red carpet with a banner that says 3wishes.com]

Airing from 2005 to 2010, The Girls Next Door gave viewers an inside peek of the Playboy Mansion, starring Hefner's then three main girlfriends Holly, Bridget and Kendra Wilkinson. Bridget, 51, and Holly, 41, have since claimed they were graded A-D for their looks and given blood-curling insights of everything that allegedly took place in Hugh's bedroom. During their time at the lavish California pad - which had 29 rooms - the bubbly duo revealed that they had no say in who could join them in the bedroom.

Image Credit: The Sun [a group of women sit around a table with a sign that says playboy]

''We didn't get to agree on who got to come in and who got to watch, and who got to do whatever - and it was just traumatising,'' they said in a previous podcast. But with so many Playmates in the mansion - many of whom suffered with bulimia - how did they spend Valentine's Day?. Although on TV screens Holly appeared to be happy to spend the most romantic day of the year with everyone in Hugh's pad, the reality was different.

Image Credit: The Sun [a man in a tuxedo stands next to two playboy bunnies]

''I know the show was always trying to get super romantic stuff from me and everything - and I just didn't want to do it,'' said the 41-year-old who dated the American magazine publisher from 2001 to 2008. ''Mine and Hugh's anniversary was about me and Hef - even though we celebrated with everybody. ''But Valentine's Day was always about everybody,'' said Holly who had to pretend she liked ''hanging out with the girls almost more'' than she enjoyed spending time together with her millionaire partner.

According to the former Playmates, who've met some of some of Hollywood's biggest names, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz and George Clooney, the mega group would head out for a dinner at a posh restaurant. Despite desperately wanting to have some alone time with Hugh, Holly admitted ''it was genuinely more fun'' to have ''other girls'' with them. ''I think it would've been a lot more boring if it was just me, you, Kendra [Kendra Wilkinson, a former girlfriend] and Hef.

''If it was just the four of us, it would have felt like 'Okay, what's the temperature on all our relationships?','' Holly said in the latest episode of the Girls Next Level podcast. Spilling the beans about the legendary mansion where Hugh lived until his death in 2017, Holly also revealed her secret rage that TV viewers never saw. At the time, the 41-year-old said, practically everyone around her was tying the knot, including her sister.

''Some of my high school friends were married at that point, my best friend Ashley was married [...], my sister was getting married. ''And I say to Mary [in the 2007 episode] 'My sister is getting married in Jamaica in July and I'm gonna go'. ''And did you notice that when I said 'I'm gonna go', there's like a little bit of defiance?''. Now, looking back at the episode, Holly said it was ''sad and stupid'' that she had to ask permission to attend her own sister's big day.

However, Holly did have reasons to fear that the patriarch of the mansion would refuse her request. Bridget told YouTube viewers: ''But it did have to be like that because we weren't allowed to go to Tiffany Fallon's [American model] wedding because it was in Mexico. ''You had every reason to believe that for some reason Hef would be like 'No, you guys can't go to this'.''. Girlfriends vs Playmates. Rumour has it that Hugh Hefner would have two to a dozen "girlfriends" living with him at a time. These girlfriends are not to be confused with Playmates. Each girlfriend had their own room, but one “special lady” was named as girlfriend number one and stayed with Hef in his room. Each girlfriend received a $1,000 (£760) weekly bonus "allowance.".

Hef's Wild side. The Playboy mansion was home to a private zoo. It was one of very few private residences that actually has a zoo license. Hefner was a fan of birds. Among his collection - many of which roamed the grounds - were peacocks, macaws, flamingos, toucans and ducks. The Elvis Legend. Within the mansion was a secret room, called “The Elvis Room.” Legend has it that the King himself, Elvis Presley, had a little slumber party in the room with up to eight eager bunnies.

The duo are not the only ones who've since shared insights into what was happening behind closed doors at the lavish pad. Crystal Hefner, Hugh's last wife, recently opened up on the "robotic" sex she endured when living in the Playboy Mansion. In her book, Only Say Good Things: Surviving Playboy and Finding Myself, she spilled all on her time at the Mansion, including the "odd and robotic" sex Hugh required of her and the other girls around at the time.