Hefner meets up with ex-girlfriend

No one was going to rush Holly Madison into her first meeting with Hugh Hefner since their breakup.

With frustrated TV producers repeatedly pressing her to face Hef and his new harem alone, Madison dug in her heels Saturday and waited until she was ready.

"She doesn't want to come out right now, and I can't make her," an assistant was overheard telling a "Girls Next Door" producer.

The drama at the Palms Place pool ended a few minutes later when Madison's "Girls Next Door" sidekicks, Bridget and Kendra, joined her and with Madison leading the way they filed out of a private room at chef Kerry Simon's restaurant and made their way to Hefner and his new girlfriends.

Earlier, Madison was heard saying she was waiting for "a pretty moment."

It was a moment that will be immortalized in the opening episode of next season's "Girls Next Door," which will feature the exit of the exes and the arrival of Hef's latest Mansion mates.

Madison and Hefner separated last summer and she moved out of the Mansion in October, when Hef welcomed the replacements, 19-year-old twins Kristina and Karissa Shannon and 22-year-old Crystal Harris.

They had talked, but not had a face-to-face, Madison said. "We're chill (fine)," she said, after the brief reunion.

Hefner told me there were no hard feelings. He said he "feels sad" when couples who separate "wind up less than friends. I think you lose part of yourself, your own memories and your own history. I spent six -- eight wonderful years with these girls." THE SCENE AND HEARD

Sandy Murphy is getting married. Murphy, who spent 71/2 years behind bars on charges related to the 1998 drug overdose death of casino heir Ted Binion, is marrying a Southern California art gallery owner she has been dating for about three years. Murphy, 37, and Kevin Pieropan, 49, are getting hitched at the end of April, Vegas Confidential has learned. He's from the Laguna Beach area.

Murphy was released from the Nevada Women's Correctional facility four years ago after serving theft counts related to Binion's multimillion-dollar cache of silver in Pahrump. Before that, Murphy and Binion's handyman Rick Tabish were charged and convicted in Binion's death in 2000, but were later granted a new trial and acquitted on the murder charges in 2004.

SIGHTINGS

Michael Jackson and prominent choreographer Kenny Ortega checking out "Le Reve" (Wynn) on Saturday night ... Ortega was also in the audience at the Criss Angel show (Luxor) on Saturday. ... Music icons Dick Clark, arriving in a wheelchair, and Clive Davis, taking in Danny Gans' show (Encore) on Saturday night ... The Palms made it official on Saturday: they have lured DJ AM away from Pure nightclub at Caesars Palace. "He's arguably the No. 1 American deejay," said N9NE Group co-owner Michael Morton. "It's a pretty powerful statement to have DJ AM on Fridays and (British superstar deejay) Paul Oakenfold on Saturdays," Morton said. "We believe it's probably the biggest music lineup, if not in the country, in the world."

THE PUNCH LINE

"It was a big day in London. President Obama met Queen Elizabeth. He and Michelle went to Buckingham Palace. It was very nice. And he gave the queen an iPod with 40 Broadway songs loaded on it. Someone needs to tell Barack: not all queens like show tunes." -- Jimmy Fallon

Norm Clarke can be reached at 383-0244 or norm@reviewjournal.com. Find additional sightings and more online at www.normclarke.com.