Bridget Marquardt

Bridget Marquardt is an American television personality known for her role in the reality TV series The Girls Next Door, which depicted her life as one of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner's girlfriends. Although not a Playboy Playmate, Marquardt has appeared in nude pictorials with her Girls Next Door co-stars and fellow Hefner girlfriends Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson.

Early life
Marquardt was born in Tillamook, Oregon. Shortly after her birth, Bridget's mother moved the family back to California, where she was raised. Her parents divorced when Bridget was in the fifth grade. Her mother remarried, and Marquardt and her younger brother Edward moved to their stepfather's ranch, where they later gained a half-sister, Anastasia. Bridget attended Galt High School for her freshman and sophomore years and then transferred to Lodi High School, from which she graduated in 1990.

Marquardt graduated from San Joaquin Delta College with an associate degree. She matriculated at California State University, Sacramento and graduated in 1998 with a B.A. in communications and an emphasis in public relations. In 2001, she earned her Master's Degree in Communications from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California.

Career
On the advice of friends who suggested she pose for Playboy magazine, Marquardt sent a letter to Playboy, inquiring how to become a Playmate, before enrolling at San Joaquin Delta College. In 1998, aged 25, she entered Playboy's Millennium Playmate search. In 2001, Marquardt moved to Los Angeles, California and did local modeling jobs and small acting roles. After unsuccessfully testing twice for Playboy, she was invited to the Playboy Mansion and soon became a regular there. In October 2002, after more than a year of visiting the Mansion, she was invited to move in and become one of Hefner's girlfriends.

Marquardt is featured on the E! TV show The Girls Next Door, and has appeared with Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson in three cover pictorials in Playboy magazine, the November 2005, September 2006 and March 2008 issues. She has appeared in several films, including the horror/comedy Kottentail in which she portrays a scientist doing genetic research on rabbits. She appeared in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm as herself along with Madison and Hefner in 2005. She also appeared as herself along with Madison, Wilkinson and Hefner in the Entourage episode "Aquamansion". The episode's final act took place at the Playboy Mansion. She appeared in The House Bunny with her fellow models and Hefner alongside Anna Faris.

Marquardt appeared in a 2002 episode of The Man Show and as one of Hefner's playmates in the video game Playboy: The Mansion, which was released in January 2005, as well as in an episode of Celebrity Paranormal Project which aired on November 19, 2006. She took an online paranormal course because of her interest in paranormal activity. On June 1, 2007, she started her Bridget & Wednesday Friday Show on Sirius Radio's Playboy station. In August of that year, she, Madison and Wilkinson appeared in the music video for the Nickelback song "Rockstar". Later that October, Marquardt appeared as a contestant on the Fox Reality cable show The Search for the Next Elvira. She was one of the final six out of 20 contestants.

In 2008, Marquardt appeared on an episode of NBC's Last Comic Standing along with Wilkinson and Madison, in an episode in which the trio were told funny "bedtime stories" by the competing comics. Marquardt and the rest of the Girls Next Door appeared in a July 1, 2008 episode of NBC's Celebrity Family Feud.

February 2009 was Marquardt's final appearance in Playboy, in a nude photo spread shot with Madison and Wilkinson that was touted as a farewell to The Girls Next Door. After leaving Playboy, she hosted Bridget's Sexiest Beaches, a TV series on Travel Channel, which debuted on March 12, 2009, but ended after one season.

In 2012, she worked as a contributor to Yahoo's Animal Nation series, writing articles and shooting related short documentary pieces.

Marquardt hosts the paranormal investigation podcast Ghost Magnet with Bridget Marquardt and, with Holly Madison, Girls Next Level.

Personal life
In the September 17, 2007 issue of Star magazine, Marquardt stated that she was married but separated and had been living in the Playboy mansion since October 2002. According to the interview, her husband supported her move to Los Angeles, that they remained friends, and that they were in the process of divorcing.

In 2008, Bridget told E! News, "I married my best friend when I was 23, but when I realized I wanted to move to LA to follow my dreams, we separated and eventually divorced." In a December 2008 interview, Marquardt stated that she was single, and in early January 2009, it was reported that Marquardt had moved out of the Playboy Mansion to "become her own person."

In late 2008, Marquardt began dating director Nicholas Carpenter, son of original Mercury astronaut Scott Carpenter. They started living together in a house Marquardt purchased in Sherman Oaks. The pair became engaged in the fall of 2015. As seen on various episodes of The Girls Next Door, Marquardt had a Pekingese dog named Wednesday, or "Winnie", and a black Persian cat named Gizmo. Gizmo died in June 2015. Winnie died in September 2020.