Las Vegas Weekly

December 9, 2010 · 4:01 PM

Exclusive: Holly Madison talks candidly about romance with rocker

By Robin Leach

Jack Barakat and Holly Madison at Tao in The Venetian.

Photo: David Becker/WireImage

For the first time, Peepshow star Holly Madison has talked about her new romance and how she’s kept it under the radar for six months. “It’s serious enough that neither of us are seeing anybody else,” she told me. “We kept it out of the public spotlight because we had no reason to flaunt it and get caught up in a media circus.”

Holly and pop punk rocker Jack Barakat posed together at Lavo in the Palazzo and Tao in The Venetian when the platinum blond reality TV star had her first advance celebration last week of her 31st birthday, which is Dec. 23. VegasDeLuxe.com had hinted about the romance when Jack, who is the vocalist and guitarist for All Time Low, joined Holly on her Florida vacation in September.

Holly told me: “We first met in June when he played in a concert here. We’ve taken it slowly, but we have been having fun ever since -- and I’m very happy. He came with me on my vacation, and I’ll be honest: I like him a lot. He’s funny, gorgeous and sexy!

Photo: David Becker/WireImage

Jayde Nicole, Laura Croft, Josh Strickland, Holly Madison, Bridget Marquardt and Angel Porrino at Tao in The Venetian.

“We don’t know where it’s headed. We both understand we’ve both got showbiz careers, and that means we don’t spend a lot of time together. He lives in Baltimore but gets to spend a lot of time in Los Angeles, so I hop over when he’s there, and he hops over here, too. I’m working Christmas Day with the show at Planet Hollywood, and he’ll be with his family back East, but we’re both definitely hoping to see New Year’s in together. It was great he was here for my birthday.”

Jack and Holly had an early dinner in a private dining room at Lavo with her The Girls Next Door gal pal Bridget Marquardt and her Holly’s World castmates Laura Croft, Angel Porrino and her Peepshow and TV show pal Josh Strickland. Holly and Josh raced back to Planet Hollywood for the show and then returned to Tao to continue the party with more friends, including fellow Playmate Jayde Nicole, who has opened a modeling agency here in Las Vegas after her romance with XS and Tryst partner Jesse Waits fizzled.

A Tao bottle fairy flew over the dance floor to present Holly and Jack with a magnum of Hpnotiq, followed by a three-tiered Rapunzel cake from Gimme Some Sugar and a diamond-studded heart-shaped necklace from Simon G jewelers. Hpnotiq also gave Holly a $1,000 check as a donation to her favorite charity Lied Animal Shelter.

Holly and Jack danced together, held hands and were seen kissing affectionately. They stayed at the nightclub until 2 a.m. before retiring to a guest suite at The Venetian. Filming has started on Season 2 of Holly’s World, which is now being shown in 175 countries.

Photo: David Becker/WireImage

Holly Madison with her birthday cake at Tao in The Venetian.

“We’ll be back on TV the third week of January with all-new shows,” Holly told me. “They pushed up the air dates because we did so well with the first season, so we’re scrambling with all the shooting. We filmed my birthday party, so you’ll see Jack on one of the first new episodes.”

I asked Holly about their age difference, as at 22, he’s much younger. “I don’t think it has anything to do with age. I’ve had two romances since moving to Las Vegas. One was with somebody 12 years older than me, and the other was the same age, and neither worked out. I know people still think of me as one of Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends, and he of course was much older than me, but that was a whole different lifestyle and a different kind of dating.

“It’ll be another couple of years before I start thinking seriously about marriage and children. I’ve still got a lot career-wise that I want to achieve, so for now with Jack, it’s just a case of having fun together and not thinking about the future.”

Robin Leach has been a journalist for more than 50 years and has spent the past decade giving readers the inside scoop on Las Vegas, the world’s premier platinum playground.

Follow Robin Leach on Twitter at Twitter.com/Robin_Leach.

Follow Vegas DeLuxe on Twitter at Twitter.com/vegasdeluxe.

Follow VDLX Editor Don Chareunsy on Twitter at Twitter.com/VDLXEditorDon.

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