The Real Reason You Don't Hear From 'The Girls Next Door' Anymore

When E!'s The Girls Next Door first aired in 2005, it propelled the then-girlfriends of Playboy CEO Hugh Hefner — Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt, and Kendra Wilkinson — into stardom. The show changed their lives forever, and their respective spin-offs seemingly solidified their positions as A-list stars, leading to several opportunities in all facets of the entertainment industry, including modeling, acting, music, writing, and producing.

However, while these three used to be everywhere and dominated the headlines, they've recently been pretty quiet. So, what happened to these likable, business savvy ladies? Is this a case of dwindling fame, a purposeful shying away from the spotlight, or simply a matter of focusing on other areas of their lives? Here are several reasons why we haven't heard from Madison, Marquardt, and Wilkinson in a while.

When Madison, Marquardt, and Wilkinson each made the decision to leave the Playboy Mansion at various points during the show's fifth season, as covered by Us Magazine, all three were offered their own spin-off shows. They each reached various levels of success — Kendra ran for four seasons, Holly's World ran for two, and Bridget's Sexiest Beaches for one. However, all three shows were eventually canned for different reasons.

Bridget's Sexiest Beaches, a travel series for the Travel Channel, simply never really took off. Wilkinson split from E! in 2012 due to creative differences — according to USA Today, and signed on to begin production of her current show, Kendra on Top on WEtv. Finally, Holly's World allegedly got the ax due to the network wanting to cleanse its content, as then-new President of E!, Bonnie Hammer, told the Hollywood Reporter, saying she wanted to "get rid of the more Playboy trashy element."

The highs and lows of Wilkinson's family life and marriage have been keeping her mostly preoccupied over the last couple of years. As documented in great detail through appearances on both Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars and Kendra on Top, Wilkinson and her footballer-turned-entrepreneur husband Hank Baskett have essentially made it through hell and back in their marriage, as reported by the International Business Times. This two-year journey followed Baskett's alleged sex scandal with transgender model Ava Sabrina London in 2014 — back when Wilkinson was 8-months pregnant with their second child.

At the premiere of their season of Marriage Boot Camp, Wilkinson disclosed to People that the therapy, support, and bubble the show provided for two weeks ended up being their saving grace: "We're going through a huge marital crisis at the time. It has four amazing therapists that are willing to help us for two weeks, away from social media, away from TV, away from the world and we're in. I mean come on." She continued, "We needed the help and we really needed to focus on what our real issues were and what we need to do to solve them. We went in fighting each other, we went out fighting the world. And that's where we remain right now."

The former Playboy model added that, "We're in an amazing place. Everyday is work. We're working on it every single day and we're both willing to put in the work."

Kendra on Top might be on hiatus, but Wilkinson maintains a strong social media presence to keep her fans up-to-date on the happenings in her life. And with her marriage now stronger than ever, Wilkinson and Baskett have been able to simply enjoy being a family again — which means tons of fun outings with their beautiful children, Hank IV (7) and Alijah (2).

Most recently, the family of four were seen vacationing in Big Bear, California following the New Year. Wilkinson documented happy memories from the skiing trip on Instagram, including a photo of Alijah proudly smiling big while enjoying some pizza, captioned "Feeling rewarded after her first skiing lesson. Lol #bigbear", and a cute snapshot of mom with Lil Hank at an Anaheim Ducks game.

The Daily Mail documented other recent family outings, including the whole family picking out a Christmas tree in mid-December and Wilkinson indulging in some frozen yogurt with the kids last summer. The whole gang also vacationed at Disney World back in August 2016, as reported by ET Online. Wilkinson and Baskett were sure to document the weekend on their respective Instagram accounts, with Baskett sharing a sweet moment walking around the park, looking on in wonder with the kids, captioned with: "We had such an amazing time at #disneyworld! Lil Hank and Alijah wore @kendra_wilkinson_baskett and myself out!!! We are already planning our next trip!" Meanwhile, Wilkinson shared their take on the classic Disney family photo, simply titled, "Fam".

Wilkinson happily reconnected with her estranged father, Eric, as People reported in 2014. The star later stated, "I'm so glad I took that leap of faith. I'm so glad I took that jump. It feels so good. If you face your fears, there's a gift for you."

However, her relationship with her mother, Patti, sadly remains as strained and toxic as ever. In an interview with People, Wilkinson confirmed that "Right now, things are still very bad between me and my mom," but hinted that she remains open to mending their relationship. Still, that would mean a rebuilding of trust. "I've done all the work, so it has to come on her end now. She's going to have to be the one to prove to me that she'll never sell me out again."

Thankfully, Wilkinson reconciled her differences with her estranged brother, Colin, last year; however, as E! News covered, "there's no interest" for him in reconnecting with his father, despite Wilkinson's hope to heal her broken family.

While the last couple of years have brought on a great deal of joy to Wilkinson in terms of rebuilding estranged relationships, 2016 was also a year marked by great loss for her family.

Her beloved grandmother who helped raise her passed away in early April. Their close bond was notably often showcased on the several reality series Wilkinson participated in over the years, and the difficult time surrounding this heavy loss was documented on an episode of Kendra on Top.

Wilkinson penned a beautiful tribute to her "Mommom" on Twitter, saying, "You will forever be in my heart." According to E! Online, she worked through her grief and celebrated her grandmother by sharing throwback photos of the two of them, spanning her own lifetime, on Instagram. A few months later, in August 2016, Wilkinson took to Twitter again to write another heartbreaking tribute, this time to her dog Raskal, who had been a faithful companion to the reality star for 13 years, as reported by the Daily Mail.

After the cancellation of Holly's World, Madison began to explore other ways to share her life other than in front of the camera. This led to two popular tell-all memoirs, including 2015's Down the Rabbit Hole, which became a long-lasting New York Times Best Seller. Throughout the book, she opened up about life at the mansion, what Hefner is allegedly really like, and her self-recovery after leaving. These reveals sparked the highly-covered drama and infamous bad blood between her and Wilkinson.

The following year, her book The Vegas Diaries, described as a "candid, humorous, and captivating memoir," chronicled "her journey toward reinvention and self-acceptance" in Vegas.

In May 2014, Madison opened a popular speakeasy-themed club in Las Vegas, 1923 Bourbon and Burlesque, as the Daily Mail reports. Living up to its theme, it's located in the basement of the Mandalay Bay hotel — a hidden gem beneath the escalators that immediately welcomes guests to the Roaring '20s. It's promoted on their site as a "glamorous, speakeasy-style venue" that "transports guests to the Prohibition-era, boasting custom scratch cocktail, barrel-aged bourbon and premium hand-rolled cigars."

Madison wore many hats in the creation of the club, including playing managing partner, hostess, and creator, producer, and occasional performer of the burlesque show, as she told the Las Vegas Sun around the time of the club's opening.

However, she eventually split from the bar, which immediately revamped and dropped the "Burlesque" part of its name, in December 2014. The news was announced in the Las Vegas Sun. Although Madison told the publication she couldn't discuss her departure for "legal reasons" at the time, it later came out in the Las Vegas Review-Journal that she and the other burlesque showgirls (who also later quit) had filed a lawsuit against the owners, "alleging the women were secretly recorded last year in a backstage dressing room."

As documented in her spin-off series, Madison performed as the lead in Planet Hollywood's burlesque show Peepshow for four years. However, she made the decision to leave in 2012 when she became pregnant. According the People, Madison announced her pregnancy with now-husband Pasquale Rotella in August 2012, with Rotella stating that the couple "were so excited to announce that we are going to be parents." She gave birth to their daughter, Rainbow, on March 5, 2013, as revealed by the Daily Mail.

People later reported the couple had married in Disneyland that same September. The same publication exclusively announced that the happy couple had welcomed their son, Forest, into the world the following year, on August 7, 2016.

Madison was most recently seen vacationing in the Dominican Republic with her family at the Nickelodeon Hotels & Resorts Punta Cana, which was also documented by People.

Marquardt is probably the least famous of the three former The Girls Next Door stars, but she has cultivated a successful, albeit quieter, career in various areas, earning a net worth of $4 million, according to CelebrityNetWorth.com. After Bridget's Sexiest Beacheswas cancelled, she planned to follow in her former roommates' footsteps with her own reality series on E!, which she later announced via Twitter had unfortunately not been picked up.

With that, she looked forward to pursuing other realms of the entertainment industry, including various appearances, acting, and writing. Early on, she made various appearances on Kendra, Holly's World, Top Gear US, and Celebrity Ghost Stories. Most impressively, however, was when she became a contributing writer for Yahoo's Animal Nation series in 2012, for which she also hosted a short documentary pieces.

Marquardt seems to now be taking a more deliberate break from the entertainment industry to focus on her Etsy shop, Celebrate with Bridget, which she opened in 2013. Through the shop, she creates and sells homemade holiday aprons, cute hair accessories, and beautiful wreaths. It has been a massive success; with glowing reviews and a 5-star rating, over 6,000 Etsy customers have liked it as one of their favorite shops.

Marquardt announced her engagement to longtime boyfriend Nick Carpenter in October 2015 via Instagram, whom she had been dating since 2008. Although no official reports have come out recently, one can surmise that Marquardt and her fiancé are still excitedly planning their big day.

Marquardt told Us Weekly last May that, despite the known tension between the two, she intends to invite both of her former The Girls Next Door co-stars. She's also absolutely loving planning her wedding: "Wedding planning is going great. We've been location hunting. You should see my Pinterest board. I think I have, like, 400 pins on just, like, the wedding folder. Things are going good. It's so much fun to plan. I really enjoyed doing it!"

The bulk of Marquardt's time seems to be devoted to her health and personal life. In May 2016, Marquardt first opened up to Us Weekly about her plans to start a family. Through her remarkable openness, she helped to normalize a struggle many face — that of infertility and undergoing treatment. "I feel like there is a lot of shame and embarrassment and people aren't really talking about [infertility] as much as they should. I feel like if people talked about it more and came out publicly with their struggle, people would realize they aren't alone...and not feel so awful about things," she said.

Having frozen her eggs at age 34 while still living in the mansion, Marquardt later explained in an interview with KTLA-TV, "I've had a few health issues since I left the Mansion and so fertility has come up as a big issue for me." However, she is now ready and excited to be mom: "I would love to have a girl, but I kind of want one of each. So I'm hoping that maybe two someday." As of last May, when the happy couple were entering their second round of IVF, they remained cautiously optimistic, telling Us Weekly, "We'll see, it's exciting."

It looks like Wilkinson is sending her positive vibes for this wish to come true for her old roommate. Over the holiday, she disclosed to E! News that if she could give Marquardt one gift, "I would give her a baby. I would send her wishes and prayers to have a baby."

While no announcements have been made regarding their next projects, Madison, Marquardt, and Wilkinson have been working hard behind the scenes, opening up about their personal experiences and fighting the good fight to utilize their position to do good.

Most recently, Wilkinson raised awareness for women's rights at Amber Rose's SlutWalk in LA in October 2016, according to the Daily Mail. She delivered an empowering speech, stating "they blame us, they shame us. They don't want us to have the power." She continued, "The real fight starts tomorrow. The real fight when you face the double standards we're faced with everyday — the media, everywhere. You've got to stand up to the media, your friends, your family. Whoever victim shames, stand up to them." The crowd cheered when she asserted, "it's time to stop it. This is for our f***ing kids."

Similarly to Wilkinson, Madison recently took a public stand for women's rights, marching in Las Vegas' Women's March, as reported by the Daily Times.

Madison, Marquardt, and Wilkinson's collective move away from the spotlight is likely due, more than anything, to them finally being able to settle down, rather than a slowing down or lack of interest in their work. And indeed, with all of their past successes, it seems like all three are ready to take a well-deserved break from living in front of the camera to focus more on their relationships, families, and charity work.

However, just because they're content with life behind the cameras for now, that doesn't necessarily mean they're slowing down career-wise.

While nothing's been explicitly announced from Madison and Marquardt, they've still got their ongoing creative and business projects. Meanwhile, Wilkinson's fans are still hoping for the renewal and return of Kendra on Top. Additionally, the reality star teased on Twitter recently that she's been taking acting lessons. So, it looks like either way she'll be back on the small- or big-screen soon enough.

All in all, despite not hearing much from these stars in a while, let's hope 2017 is a big year for them both personally and professionally.