Pamela Anderson says she thought her legacy 'would be a red swimsuit and a pink fuzzy hat'

Pamela Anderson talks about what she's learned from her time in Hollywood. (Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Pamela Anderson talks about what she's learned from her time in Hollywood. (Photo: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic) (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin via Getty Images)

Pamela Anderson is reflecting on her legacy.

The Baywatch alum, who just released her memoir Love, Pamela as well as her Netflix documentary Pamela: A Love Story, spoke to WWD this week about getting to tell her story for the first time.

“I thought my legacy would be a red swimsuit and a pink fuzzy hat, and nobody would ever know how much I’ve gone through, what I’ve overcome and how I put this all together as a creative art project,” she explained.

Despite her iconic looks, she said she never felt comfortable with fashion, explaining that she always thought she "repelled clothes" and that "everything was always a little bit off."

"Believe me, I would love for Anna Wintour to love me, but I know she never will because I just, I’m a clothing repellent," said Anderson. "I want to dress in these beautiful clothes, but I just don’t look right in them; some things are too weird, my body doesn’t quite fit. But especially when I was younger, I would err on the side of just have fun. I mean, those looks took me five minutes to put together with these sparkly pants, the big hat and the blue eyeliner. And walking down red carpets with Tommy [Lee] was just, we just thought ‘we’re going to be funny.’ We weren’t thinking we could have a stylist or anything like that."

Though the actress has been married five times, famously to Tommy Lee of Motley Crue and most recently to Dan Hayhurst, Anderson is now single — and says that she wakes up “a little happier” every day.

“I feel like it’s such a sense of relief, and I’m so grateful for the outpouring of support and love,” she said. “I am a girl’s girl, but I’ve kind of been missing in action. Anytime I’m in a relationship, I usually put my entire focus on that and my children, so it’s so nice — I just feel like I’m just a free spirit, wandering around the planet, just bumping into people, having these great conversations and it feels great.”

Being single paved the way for her to tell her truth, she added.

“That shows you what kind of relationships I’ve had in the past,” the former Playmate noted. “I would have been too afraid to upset somebody, or make somebody jealous, or anything.”

Anderson’s new projects are an intimate account of her life, and include revelations of past abuse. She also detailed how she felt about Pam & Tommy, the Hulu series, starring Lily James and Sebastian Stan, about the sex tape made by her and her former husband Lee, which was stolen from their home and distributed against their will.

"I blocked that stolen tape out of my life in order to survive," Anderson shared. "Now that it's all coming up again, I feel sick. I want to take control of the narrative for the first time."

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