Bridget Marquardt is no longer just the “girl next door.” Well, she was never really one from the start, now was she? Marquardt, 35, best known as one of Hugh Hefner’s girlfriends on E!’s ‘The Girls Next Door,’ is now breaking out of that mold too, as the host of her very own Travel Channel show, ‘Bridget’s Sexiest Beaches.’

This should come as no surprise to fans of GND; she’s been pursuing a career in broadcast journalism since we met her on the show four years ago. Though fans also know this move isn’t just a career change, it’s a life move as well. Bridget and the other girls next door, Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson, all split from their Playboy boyfriend and moved out of the mansion this past fall.

Check out a Bridget photo gallery

Bridget and the girls will still appear on the upcoming sixth season – just not as Hef’s lady-friends. “I’m still going to be a part of the new episodes of The Girls Next Door as much as possible, and Hef is okay with us coming in on our own level, and not as a girlfriend anymore,” Bridget explains. “Hef welcomes me anytime and told me that there will always be a place for me at the Mansion, even if just to have meals there, or work out.” Marquardt even still uses the mansion as her mailing address!

Talk about a clean breakup. Being friends with an ex is always a good thing – but what about friends with an ex’s new girlfriend? Or in this case – girlfriends? “It’s weird to me. I don’t know them very well. They’re really, really young. They’re not even old enough be at clubs yet,” Bridget says of Hef’s three new leading ladies. “I don’t know them that well and don’t spend that much time with them, but Hef still has a place in my heart, and I hope these new girls have his best interests in mind. I’m not going to try to pretend to be their best friends.”

No, Bridget still counts on Kendra and Holly for that. “Kendra is getting married and I’m going to be in her wedding as a bridesmaid. She wanted me to be her wedding planner but because of my filming schedule I was unable to do it.” She says. “Holly and I text message each other all the time too.”

And there’s no need to blame the Travel Channel for her departure from Hef’s arms. “It was time to move on,” Bridget says, after seven years as a mansion resident. “The opportunity came up with the Travel Channel and even though I had Hef’s support, I felt like it was the beginning of the end for me. I had always been a very independent person and being in the mansion makes you dependent. I eventually got used to that but in the end, wanted to spread my wings, and really wanted to start dating.”

And after a month away of filming for her new show, it seemed her decision was just about made for her. “When I was gone filming, Kendra announced she met Hank and was leaving, and I knew Holly was a little unhappy, and all of a sudden when I got back the twins were already there and it was like holy crap! The transition just began to speed up; it didn’t feel right with the new girlfriends, and I felt out of place, and didn’t want to be involved with the whole new drama and it wasn’t the same without the people I bonded and shared everything with.”

As for post-mansion life, Bridget’s new shooting schedule has kept her from even finding a new home. “I’m homeless! I’ve been living in hotels because I’ve been filming Bridget’s Sexiest Beaches and traveling for the last 7 months. It hasn’t even really hit me yet. I moved out and put all my stuff in in storage and I haven’t had another opportunity to find a new home yet.”

So for now the beach will just have to make do. “Bridget’s Sexiest Beaches” premiered on the Travel Channel last month and is her “dream job,” she says. “It’s exhausting but exactly what I wanted. I want to make it into a career with the Travel Channel and franchise it off into other sexiest destination shows.”

Watch Bridget on Fancast

Until that happens you can follow Bridget on trips to places like Turks and Caicos, Croatia, Cost Rica, and Australia, to name a few, for everything from the best beaches, to most romantic hotels, gorgeous rain forests, and where to go to rent your own personal cave.

And, of course, you’ll still find her hanging around the mansion or even popping up on Kendra’s upcoming new reality show for E!. “She shot eight episodes on E about her life and transitioning and starting right when she moved out, and it follows her up to getting prepared to get married, so you’ll definitely see me.” As for the wedding itself, Bridget promises we’ll see it either on Kendra’s new show or back on GND.

And what about Bridget’s love life? She’s dating movie director Nicholas Carpenter and Hef already gave his blessing. “He’s totally supportive of my new relationship,” she said. “It happened so gradually. It started before I left the mansion when I was working on a movie with him, and it started out as business friendly, and then flirty, and then we started dating once I moved out of the mansion. It was a slow transition and I’m really happy.”

And she’s his only girlfriend! “It’s really nice to have a one on one boyfriend, totally!”

Can’t wait for the sixth season of The Girls Next Door? Watch clips on Fancast and then check out Bridget’s Sexiest Beaches, which airs on the Travel Channel Thursdays at 10 p.m.