Holly Madison, a former Playboy model, has officially announced her separation from Ghost Adventures host Zak Bagans. During the March 24 episode of her podcast, Girls Next Level, she confirmed the end of their on-again, off-again relationship that spanned several years. Madison stated:
“Zak and I broke up for good, for good. I know we’ve been very off and on; you guys are probably like, ‘You guys broke up last spring, right?'”
Co-host Bridget Marquardt echoed Madison’s sentiments, emphasizing the uncertainty in their relationship. Madison revealed that they had also unfollowed each other on Instagram for the first time—an unusual move considering their prior breakups.
“Yeah, it was very off and on for the course of the like five-and-a-half years we were together. We were very off and on for the past year, very much. So we broke up and, I mean, unfollowed on social media, which we’ve never unfollowed each other before through all the breakups.”
Holly Madison, now 44, previously shared her life with her ex-husband, Pasquale Rotella, with whom she has two children, Rainbow and Forest. The couple divorced in 2019, and shortly after, Madison began her relationship with Bagans.
Exploring the Relationship Timeline of Zak Bagans and Holly Madison
Zak Bagans and Holly Madison first began dating in June 2019. In a recent interview with People Magazine, Madison opened up about her autism diagnosis and its impact on her past relationships, revealing that her inability to connect with others contributed to her choices in partners. In her own words:
“I look back and I just see how I used to have so much trouble connecting with people. I think that played into some of the decisions I made. Feeling like I connected with certain people easier and thinking, ‘Oh, this must be meant to be because I never connected with anyone before,’ kind of a thing, when really, I think it was just being on the spectrum was a difficulty for me.”
Reflecting on her compatibility with Bagans, Madison expressed gratitude for his understanding and acceptance of her diagnosis:
“I’m lucky enough to be dating somebody who just has always kind of understood me and accepts me for who I am, so getting the diagnosis wasn’t super shocking to him. I am lucky that I haven’t had a ton of trouble in recent relationships as far as feeling an intimate emotional connection with somebody.”
According to sources cited by TMZ, there was a brief split between the couple in 2021, but they reconciled afterward. Following the revelation of their recent breakup, Bagans described their separation as amicable, wishing Madison the best in her future endeavors.
“I won’t get into the details, but I’ll just say we have shared so many great memories and fun times. I’ll always have love in my heart for her and wish the very best for her. I’m dating now and moving on,”he stated.
Apart from her podcasting endeavors, Holly Madison is also a successful author, with two best-selling memoirs to her name: Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny and The Vegas Diaries: Romance, Rolling the Dice, and the Road to Reinvention.