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SCARS AND ALL

Hugh Hefner’s Ex Reveals Post-Pregnancy Surgery Scars

The former Playboy model is sharing her plastic surgery secrets.

Tamilore OshikanluContributor

PublishedJun 29, 2026, 2:34 PM EDT

UpdatedJun 29, 2026, 2:34 PM EDT

Updated Jun 29, 2026, 2:34 PM EDTPublished Jun 29, 2026, 2:34 PM EDT

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Holly Madison, one of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner’s longtime girlfriends, is getting candid about the cosmetic work she says helped her feel like herself again after pregnancy.

The former Girls Next Door star appeared on Wednesday’s episode of the Derm Approved podcast with Dr. Sheila Farhang, where she opened up about the procedures she has had over the years—including the lower facelift she says she still loves, scar and all.

Madison said she underwent the procedure roughly a year ago after noticing “a little bit of jowling” around her jawline. She said she paired the lower facelift with “a little bit of lipo under my chin” after having her children.

“I just felt like after having kids, you know, I gained a lot of weight with my second pregnancy and there was just nothing I could do,” Madison said.

The 45-year-old said she initially hoped less invasive treatments might tighten the area, but quickly realized they would not deliver the result she truly desired.

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“There was no lasers or anything that could really do what I wanted it to do,” she told Farhang.

Madison said the procedure left her with a scar near the front of her earlobe—but she is more than happy with the trade-off.

“I kind of put makeup over it and my earrings. If you look close, you can totally see it,” she said. “I don’t even care if somebody sees this scar.”

She described the recovery as “pretty easy,” though she still took two weeks off from filming her podcast, Girls Next Level, because she was still dealing with residual swelling.

Madison credited her “conservative” approach to cosmetic surgery with keeping her from having any major regrets.

“I’d rather have it not go far enough and then I can go back and maybe do more rather than have it go too far, and I’m looking like the Joker,” she said, referring to the wide-grinned Batman nemesis.

But Madison did reveal one cosmetic treatment she considers a total bust: hand rejuvenation.

The model said she underwent a laser-and-filler combo to add some youthful plumpness to her “bony hands.” At first, she thought she had finally cracked the code.

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“Your hand kind of swells up the first day and looks like a hospital glove with ice in it, and then it goes down,” she said. “I had the cutest chubby hands, and I was so excited.

Unfortunately, the promising results didn’t last. Madison said that after about a week, the swelling disappeared—and so did the results.

“These hands are as bony as the day I walked in,” she said, slamming the procedure—which can cost thousands of dollars, depending on the treatments used—“a complete waste of money.”

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Madison also said she has tried IPL laser treatments, Botox, and microneedling, though she admitted she does not “necessarily see a difference.” Instead, she treats them more like long-term maintenance.

“It’s just kind of like in good faith that this is good for you over the years,” she said.

Madison dated Hefner from 2001 to 2008 while living at the Playboy Mansion, where she said cosmetic procedures were common among female residents.

Looking back on her time at the Playboy Mansion, Madison said that while the decision to undergo cosmetic surgery was ultimately up to each Playmate, many of the women gravitated toward the same trusted surgeons.

“Garth Fischer was the one for boobs. And that’s who I went to,” she said.

Madison added that Dr. Raj Kanodia performed her nose job and praised the recommendation as “amazing.”

Although Madison now speaks openly about the cosmetic procedures she has chosen over the years, she has also reflected on the pressure surrounding beauty standards during her time at the Playboy Mansion.

In a 2023 interview with People, she said living there in the early 2000s “created a body dysmorphia” that left her “always kind of wondering what’s wrong with me.”

Tamilore OshikanluContributor

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