Hefner 'down in the dumps' over split

Rex Features

Hugh Hefner's break-up from Girls Next Door star Holly Madison has left him "down in the dumps".

The 82-year-old Playboy publisher believes that Madison left him because she realised they would never marry or have children.

He said: "The fact that she was depressed after that, I didn't know at all. That was a revelation in the last days and weeks."

Despite the heartache, the mogul remarked that it is now "apparent" that his personal life will see some new faces.

"There's been moments that I've been down in the dumps about all this, and [my PA] Mary told me to cheer up and pointed out that there are girls lined up outside the front gate. At my age, that's hard to believe, but it seems to be true," Hefner remarked.

"It's a big house ... And I'm not going to live alone. I'm definitely not going to live alone."