Pamela Anderson’s life lessons:
“I want to be treated like a normal person”
Last week, Pamela Anderson, 53, reportedly slammed new series Pam and Tommy – which documents her infamous romance with the Mötley Crüe rocker, and stars Lily James as Pam – as a “cheap knock off” and “a joke”. Now settled with her fifth husband Dan Hayhurst, we reflect on the Baywatch star’s journey to find self love...
‘DARKNESS COMES WITH FAME’
When she left hit series Baywatch in
1997, Pamela spiralled into a bad place, contracting life-threatening disease Hepatitis C. “It was very difficult for me after Baywatch,” said Pamela, who has been cured of the disease. “My kids saved me. A lot of darkness comes with fame. I refused to play by the rules. But it didn’t do me any favours. I didn’t believe in management or PR, but this made me an easy target. And I might have shared things too lightly. It didn’t look good. I’m happy to be in a good place now, but at times I didn’t think I’d make it.”
‘DON’T PUT YOURSELF
ON A PEDESTAL’
She may be a pin-up, thanks to her Playboy poses and Baywatch stardom, but Pam likes to be treated like a normal girl. “When men try to put me on a pedestal, it’s the worst,” she says in her book, Lust For Love. “It’s isolating and lonely to be so protected. It’s also someone that will cheat eventually. Thinking you are too perfect makes men insecure and seek attention from others. I just want to walk hand in hand through the streets and kiss and laugh and love. But some men have a fear of treating me as a normal girl. This is what I want more than anything.”
‘VALUE A GOOD GUY’
Pam got married for the sixth time to her fifth husband, bodyguard Dan Hayhurst, on Christmas Eve after a whirlwind romance. On finding love again, she said, “He was working here [her home in Canada] and I got stuck here during COVID, and we stuck together. He’s a good guy and I value that. He’s the kind of guy I probably would have met if I’d stayed home and not went around the world and got crazy. It’s nice to be with a real man who can actually change a lightbulb. He’s very useful.”
‘DISCOVER YOUR PURPOSE’
Despite having millions of followers, Pamela suddenly announced earlier this year that she was quitting Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. “I’ve never been interested in social media,” she wrote. “And now that I’m settled into the life I’m genuinely inspired by reading and being in nature I am free.” Urging fans to find their purpose too, she continued, “Let’s hope you find the strength and inspiration to follow your purpose and try not to be seduced by wasted time.”
‘I knew Tommy for four days before I married him’
‘LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT DOES EXIST’
Pamela’s torrid romance with Mötley Crüe rocker Tommy Lee began in 1995, and is set to be the subject of a new TV series starring Lily James. Pammy, who has reportedly slammed the biopic as a “cheap knock-off,” said, “There was Tommy and then there was nobody else. He was the love of my life. We had a wild and crazy beginning that was too much for both of us. It really was love at first sight. I only knew him for four days before I married him. I had beautiful children with him. My kids are grateful to be born out of true love.”
‘TRUST YOUR INSTINCTS’
Pam and Tommy, who divorced in 1998, share sons Brandon, 24, and Dylan, 23. On motherhood, she said, “It’s just been the three of us. I’ve always raised them to be themselves and to trust their instincts and not to be like everybody else. My kids are ambitious, they know what they want, they’re so talented and creative.”
‘FIND YOUR INNER CIRCLE’
Last year, Pamela left Hollywood to move back home to the Vancouver Island property she bought from her grandparents three decades ago. Speaking about finding solitude, she said, “I have surrounded myself with a very small group of people who I adore and love and that’s all I need. I’m not a big social butterfly. Hollywood friends aren’t that necessary. I have really great, interesting, wonderful friends who I stay in touch with through my causes that I believe in.”
‘VEGANS MAKE BETTER LOVERS’
A devoted vegan, Pamela has spent her life campaigning for human and animal rights. She’s said, “I chose a plant-based diet because I wanted to be healthy. But I think the main reason that I did it was factory farming.” She added, “Vegans make better lovers. The cholesterol in meat, eggs, and dairy causes hardening of the arteries (and not much else). It slows blood flow to all the body’s organs, not just the heart. You can improve your overall health and increase stamina in the bedroom by going vegan.”