You’d think of all the serious issues plaguing Olive Garden – long waits, the batteries in the pagers dying out, running out of bread sticks, etc – the last thing they’d have time to worry about is their wholesome family image being tarnished. But that’s exactly what’s stressing out the Garden’s bigwigs – though they’re doing everything they can to be gracious about it.

Playboy Playmate, Hugh Hefner’s girlfriend, and Girls Next Door star Kendra Wilkinson is a big fan of the OG. Which is what the cool people call it. So much so that she’s actually said Olive Garden is better than any restaurant in Italy. She’s constantly eating their food and blabbing about on in the show. But lest you think it’s some clever product placement, let us be clear that Olive Garden has nothing to do with it – and has been made mighty uncomfortable by the Playmate’s pasta fetish.

To the consternation of Olive Garden’s marketers, who have spent millions crafting the franchise’s family-friendly image, the 23-year-old adult-entertainment star and aspiring real-estate mogul repeatedly uses her spotlight to rave about its midprice eateries. Wilkinson hoists Olive Garden doggie bags in the air and extols its chicken parmigiana. She once scandalized European diners by declaring the Olive Garden preferable to any restaurants in Italy.

Wilkinson, whose tan skin and blonde-white hair project classic California, isn’t on the payroll. She is a rogue brand ambassador: a celebrity who is genuinely, publicly devoted to a product or service, even if he or she doesn’t quite embody the values that the brand’s managers may be trying to convey.

Executives at Olive Garden declined to discuss the uninvited spokesmodel. One official said the company has tried to walk a fine line with its response, maintaining the chain’s wholesome image without alienating potential customers. “I don’t feel comfortable talking about this . . . because it is a complicated issue for the brand,” said Michele Kay, executive vice president of WPP Group’s Grey advertising firm, which handles the Olive Garden account.

Wilkinson said that when she started praising the restaurant on television and on her very popular MySpace page, it never crossed her mind what the folks at Olive Garden might think. “I don’t speak about it to get paid for it,” she said. “I speak about it because I love it. I understand they’re a family restaurant, but I think it can’t hurt them to have a little spice.”

[From Rocky Mountain News]

Apparently Olive Garden doesn’t want to offend Kendra or any of her (presumably) millions of fans, nor do they want images of frolicking bunnies associated with their brand. As long as Kendra’s not walking into her local restaurant wearing the bunny costume it seems like everything should be fine. If not I’m sure TGI Friday’s would love to have Kendra promote their Jack Daniel’s Chicken & Shrimp or something.

Here’s Kendra talking about how much she loves Olive Garden. Header image of Kendra at the ESPYs on July 17th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Hugh Hefner may finally be growing up. Whoever thought a man could jump from stunted 25-year-old bachelor to senior citizen without any of the stages that generally come in between? According to Pop Tarts, Hef is finally planning on retiring the bunny ears. The parties, the extra girlfriends – maybe even the grotto. It’s all on its way out. Say it ain’t so.

It looks like Holly Madison is finally getting what she wants — Hugh Hefner all to herself and the winding down of his wild parties populated by girls wearing next to nothing.

Fellow girlfriends Kendra Wilkinson and Bridget Marquardt were nowhere to be seen at last Thursday’s EA Madden NFL ‘09 Game Launch party at West Hollywood’s STK. And the Playboy founder clearly only had eyes for Madison as they canoodled in the back VIP booth, with Holly very much in her element and laughing a lot more than usual (for once she didn’t have to share her man).

… Pop Tarts has been told by numerous inside sources that this is the last time bunnies and big-wigs will hop around the Shakespeare-themed party. After decades and decades of wild nights, we hear Hef is calling it a day and that Playboy Enterprises has decided that this party and the upcoming annual Halloween party will be the last that the magazine mogul personally throws as a means to cut costs.

A rep from the men’s mag kept mum on the murmurs, saying: “Who knows what will happen in a year from now?”

[From Fox News’ Pop Tarts]

The article says that the mansion is still going to be available for private party rentals. Sounds like an excellent place to host a wedding shower to me. It sounds like the decision is mostly a business one, but I’m sure Holly Madison still has visions of little babies crawling around in bunny costumes. Of course they’ll be the kind with footies and a trap door in the back for a quick diaper change. No word on if Hef is really ready to act his age… or even half his age. But it seems like a step, nonetheless.

Here’s Hef and some bunnies at the “Madden NFL 09″ VIP Premiere and Celebration of 20th Anniversary of the Madden NFL Franchise at STK/Coco De Ville in West Hollywood on August 7th. Images thanks to PR Photos. Images thanks to WENN.

You can enter this into the “not as scary as I thought” file in your brain. The sportiest of Hugh Hefner’s current tri-pack of girlfriends, Kendra Wilkinson, detailed to Fox News’ Pop Tarts exactly how the three ladies divvy up their Hef loving. No, not in terms of sex time. I freaked a bit with worry too – though if you want to find out exactly how that works, an ex-Playmate gave a pretty detailed description. There are some things I just don’t want to imagine – and this runs a close second to “what really goes on in the back room at Taco Bell.” Kendra says the girls’ secret is pretty much staying away from each other as much as possible. Though she says it in a much more diplomatic way.

“We are three very different people — we’re doing very different things with our lives and we don’t step on each other’s toes,” she told Pop Tarts at Ryan Sheckler’s X Games Celebrity Golf Tournament in California on Tuesday. “If we all wanted the same thing it wouldn’t have worked, because that’s where all the drama would have started, but we’re like the Spice Girls — I’m the sporty one. We are on different roads and they don’t intersect. We don’t spend time together every day — girls just can’t do that.”

But it seems as though Kendra’s road might be leading her away from the iconic Playboy Mansion sometime soon. After five years of hopping about, the “Girl Next Door” says she’s getting ready to swap parties for parenting.

“I was only 18 when I first moved in and I’ve grown up so much. I really have a new light on my life,” Wilkinson said. “I’ve been thinking a lot about marriage and kids; I don’t care about going crazy and partying anymore. I’m focused on the real life things, my future. That’s who I am now.”

Speaking of the current Kendra, this gal has seriously transformed her little bod from toned to super-toned. According to the starlet, results stem from doing “simple things like running and sit-ups” and drinking “lots and lots of carrot juice.”

[From Fox News]

That carrot juice could explain Kendra’s coloring. According to a lot of recent gossip, Kendra will definitely be leaving the Girls Next Door, but not because she wants to start a family. It’s pretty doubtful that the girls get along, and apparently head Hef licker Holly Madison doesn’t get along with Kendra, and that’s the more likely reason for the departure. It also makes me think that the secret to the girls’ getting along isn’t their alone time – they have a lot of alone time because they don’t get along.

The drama poor Hef has to put up with.

Here’s Kendra and Bridget (background) leaving STK restaurant in West Hollywood with a film crew yesterday. Images thanks to Fame. Header of Kendra Wilkinson, Holly Madison, Hugh Hefner and Bridget Marquardt at the ESPY Awards Kick-off Party at the Playboy Mansion on July 14th. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Hugh Hefner must really have a thing for novelty porn. No, I’m not talking weird fetishes or anything with unusually short, bearded, or tattooed people. Hef thinks Brooke Hogan is hot. Or at least hot enough to bare her stuff for Playboy. Though Celebitchy readers have unanimously compared Brooke’s looks to her father’s (imagine the Hulk with boobs, and you’re pretty much there) apparently Hef thinks the rest of the world has lower standards and wants to see her tater tots.

Heads up, Hulk! Your daughter might be headed for Playboy. Brooke Hogan has been approached to pose nude for the famous men’s magazine, her publicist told the Daily News on Wednesday. And she didn’t say no.

The “Brooke Hogan Knows Best” star, 20, could use a boost for her stagnant singing career. Hogan’s 2006 album “Undiscovered” reportedly sold just 127,000 copies.

But her father, WWE legend Hulk Hogan, likely won’t be too thrilled with the idea. The Hulkster had no qualms about showing off his overbearing paternal side on the now-defunct VH1 reality show “Hogan Knows Best.”

Brooke has posed for a men’s magazine in the past (she appeared on the cover of FHM in a skimpy bikini in 2006), but has never posed nude. “No decision has been made at this time,” her rep said.

[From the Daily News]

Let me go ahead and make the decision for you, with a resounding noooooooooooooooo. For the love of all that is good and holy, put just about anyone on the cover before Brooke Hogan. I seriously doubt the vast majority of Playboy readers want to see a penis and fake breasts on the same person. It’s just too confusing.

I would seriously rather see a picture of Amy Winehouse, freshly rolled out of bed with a crack needle still stuck in her beehive and random patches of dirt and impetigo on her skin. And the worst part is you know Hulk is going to monitor that photo shoot. Because he’s a protective father.

Here’s a sneak preview of what you’re bound to see: Brooke Hogan performing at Z100’s Jingle Ball pre-show at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York in 2006. Images thanks to WENN.

Shocking – SHOCKING – allegations have been printed in the New York Post that Kendra Wilkinson isn’t really Hef’s girlfriend – and she wants to leave his show The Girls Next Door. The Post claims that Kendra, 21, was just cast to add some youth next to the practically prehistoric Bridget Marquardt, 34, and Holly Madison, 28. They also claim that Kendra breaks all the rules, like not dating anyone but Hef. That’s right, Hef can (try to) boink all three women at once, but they’re only allowed eyes for him.

“Holly and Bridget hate her,” a friend of Wilkinson told Page Six. “They’re totally jealous. She has her own empire now. She’s got a clothing line, a modeling career and an exercise empire. They’re just sitting there hangin’ with Hef.”

The friend expounds, “Kendra was never really Hef’s girlfriend. She was cast for the show [E!’s ‘The Girls Next Door’] because Bridget and Holly are old, and they needed a young hot girl for Hef. She was selected from a bunch of Playmate wannabes.” Wilkinson is said to be eyeing her exit from “The Girls Next Door” and the famed mansion next season. “She’s definitely out,” her friend said. “There are too many rules and Holly and Bridget want her gone. They’re so mean to her.”

Wilkinson has had a hard time sticking to the rules of the Playboy mansion - which include a curfew and a strict “no dating other men” line. “She goes out all the time really late and parties,” her pal says. “She’s definitely been linked with other guys . . . She likes rappers and sports guys.”

[From the New York Post]

You can just hear Kendra bitching to the aforementioned friend, “But all the other bunnies are mean to me!!” Interestingly, most of the rumors that have been floating around about her for the last several years are that she is indeed dating other people – other women.

Playboy’s rep of course denied that there were any problems, and told the Post, “‘Hef has always been clear that the girls were his girlfriends before the show was even signed off on. ‘” Sadly on that show it is pretty hard to tell what’s real and what’s made up for the cameras. Fancy doggy birthday party? Totally real. People going at it in the grotto while a flamingo tapes the whole thing to put on the internet later? Partly real. Kendra wanting to get it on with Hugh Hefner? Probably not so real.

Here’s : Kendra Wilkinson leaving Coco de Ville nightclub where she celebrated her birthday in L.A. on June 10th. Images thanks to WENN.

Anna Nicole Smith didn’t have a huge career. Her most obvious career move was marrying a rich geriatric, but she was a Playboy Playmate of the Year and modeled for Guess. Larry Birkhead wants his young daughter with Anna Nicole to have memories of her mother, so he bought her some lingerie that was worn by the blond in a Playboy magazine pictorial.

Baby daddy Larry Birkhead is looking forward to showing 1-year-old Dannielynn the lingerie he purchased at a celebrity auction on Saturday night, a pink bustier (bought for $1,800) and white negligee (bought for $1,000) once worn by the late model for a Playboy photo shoot.

Smith’s onetime boyfriend said he wants to make sure the young heiress has something to remember her mom by. He hopes the sexy undergarments will help Dannielynn understand her mother’s life story—one day.

“You know, it’s not something I can show today, but something down the road,” he said. “It’s not going to be in any bedtime stories anytime soon.”

E! Online

I know a lot of people think this is in questionable taste, but I’d rather that Larry Birkhead had it stored somewhere for his daughter to have, rather than it going on display somewhere.

Larry says that he won’t be showing his daughter the lingerie anytime soon. I wonder if he will eventually show Danielynn the picture of Anna Nicole wearing it. I guess one day he’ll have to explain it, but does anyone ever want to see a picture of their late mother in a raunchy Playboy pictorial?

Maybe Larry could ask Pamela Anderson how she explains her nude modeling past to her young sons. Wow, who ever would have thought you could go to Pamela Anderson for advice?

Larry Birkhead and daughter Dannielynn are shown at the opening of The Simpsons ride at Universal Studios Hollywood on 5/17/08, thanks to WENN.

The second happiest place on earth isn’t so happy after all. The fur is flying at the Playboy mansion. Who would ever have thought that putting three vain, quasi-famous nude models in the same house would be problematic? Especially when they’re all hooking up with the same rich guy? I know! Sounds like a recipe for harmony and happiness to me. But apparently some people just can’t appreciate a good thing – and two of the three girlfriends of Hugh Hefner are fighting like cats and dogs.

TMZ spies tell us Hef’s number one Bunny Holly Madison is ruling the Mansion with an iron fist … causing major drama with the staff and on the set of “The Girls Next Door.” We’re told everyone “hates” Holly, but no one more than Kendra Wilkinson, Hef’s other Bunny-in-Waiting.

It’s gotten so bad, those two can’t be in a room for more than five minutes without totally going at it. And that’s posing major problems for producers of the show who have to shoot around the flying fur. As for Bridget, she’s Switzerland, often trying, but failing, to keep the peace.

Our spies also say Holly’s ambition is spilling over to the magazine too. She wants to have editorial control over the mag’s spreads — which is not going over well with longtime employees.

For their part, “Girls” producers tell us they’re “not aware” of any rift between the ladies — affecting the show or life at the Mansion.

[From TMZ]

I’m kind of embarrassed to admit that I actually have seen this show a couple of times, despite my loudly proclaimed hatred of non-scripted television. It’s pretty obvious that Kendra and Holly don’t like each other, even if they’re technically nice to one another on the air. They’re total opposites. Kendra has often been rumored to be bisexual or gay, and is definitely more of a tough tomboy type. Holly is uber girlie, and has told everyone who will listen that she wants to have Hef’s baby. I really doubt that’s because she’s so in love with him – but it’d be a great payday for sure.

Something tells me this can all be solved with a good old fashioned pillow fight. As can most things.

Header of Bridget Marquardt, Hugh Hefner, Holly Madison, and Kendra Wilkinson at AFI’s Lifetime achievement award honoring Warren Beatty on June 12th. Below, Hef and the girls at the Playboy Jazz Festival in Los Angeles on June 14th. Images thanks to WENN.