‘I never thought I was pretty’: Pamela Anderson says she struggled with body image issues due to childhood abuse

The star’s forthcoming memoir ‘Love, Pamela’ releases on 31 January

Pamela Anderson has opened up about not wanting to look at herself in the mirror while growing up.

In a new interview, the 55-year-old actor reflected on being abused and sexualised by a babysitter while she was a child, revealing she grew up with insecurities about her body image.

“I never thought I was pretty,” she told People.

“I always thought I was athletic and funny. It kind of catered to my insecurities and probably because of my early sexualization and my shame about it all, I didn’t want to feel that way. I didn’t like that I had any kind of qualities that were attracting the wrong kind of attention.”

Anderson shared that a female babysitter molested her as a child, who she claimed “threatened” her to keep it a secret from other adults.

“In my case it was a female babysitter who sexualized me very early, forcing me to play weird games on her body,” she said. “She threatened me not to tell anyone. Or else.”

Anderson explained that it took her decades to address what happened to her as a child.

“I do feel like I’ve definitely figured out who I’m not over a lifetime and now I’m remembering who I am,” she said. “And who that little girl was before anything happened to her.”

Ahead of the Baywatch star’s forthcoming memoir Love, Pamela, which releases on 31 January, Anderson reflected on her early sexualisation in an excerpt shared with People.

Anderson writes: “I could not have survived my adult life without the strength I learned early on.”

From Baywatch to her relationship with Tommy Lee to the infamous sex tape theft that changed her life, Anderson’s documentary aims to recount her childhood, romantic life, motherhood and career, in her own words, in Love, Pamela.

Alongside the release of her memoir, Netflix’s Pamela, A Love Story releases on the same day, on 31 January.

If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support. For more information, visit their website here.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, you can call the 24-hour National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 2000 247, or visit their website here.