Baywatch Star Pamela Anderson Reveals The Unexpected Reason She Left Hollywood

Pamela Anderson has opened up about what led her to step away from Hollywood and return to her home in Canada.

The former Playboy model shared her heartfelt reasons with Women's Wear Daily.

The actress, who became famous in the 90s thanks to her role in the popular US lifeguard show, Baywatch, reflected on her decision.

Following her Baywatch fame, she was known as a sex symbol and posed for Playboy multiple times, but she has since moved past that image.

However, life changed dramatically when she married Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee. A few years later, their private tape was leaked, and soon after, their marriage ended.

The leaked tape from 1996 had a significant impact on her, drawing waves of criticism, much of which targeted her more harshly than her husband or the person responsible for leaking it.

Even though it has been 28 years since the tape's release, it still remains fresh in many people’s minds.

Because of this and the years that followed, Anderson felt the need to reconnect with her true self.

She told Women's Wear Daily that she left the spotlight and moved away 'to really kind of look at [her] life and remember who [she] was.'

Pamela Anderson is shedding her previous image Instagram/pamelaanderson

She explained: "Not what other people were telling me I was — and I didn't want anything that had happened to me define me."

"I wanted what I do to define me… all these realizations came to me in the rose garden."

She told the publication: "I didn't want anything that had happened to me define me."

"I wanted what I do to define me."

At 57, she decided to move to Vancouver Island, seeking a time of reflection and peace.

In an interview with Better Homes & Gardens in August, Anderson mentioned that at one point she 'kind of gave up' and felt she 'needed a change'.

She shared: "I don't know what happened over the last few decades, but I feel now so far removed from the image of who I was."

Anderson also talked about feeling 'very sad and lonely' and often 'misunderstood' by people around her.

She said: "I felt like I had really screwed up, that my whole life was a bundle of mistakes,"

Anderson is inspiring others to bare their faces The Drew Barrymore Show/ CBS

But after leaving Hollywood and moving back, she has found 'such a relief that I get to be myself and enjoy this time'.

She said: "People have this pneumatic kind of image of me from Playboy to 'Baywatch,' to my rock 'n' roll type of husbands, to everything else."

"But I also played into the image that was created around me. I'm glad I did all that, but I'm really glad I'm where I am now."

Anderson recently appeared on The Drew Barrymore Show, where she opened up about being single, feeling comfortable in her skin, and living life on her own terms.

Her famous make-up-free look at Paris Fashion Week last year inspired Barrymore to join her in embracing a natural face as they chatted and cooked together.

Earlier this year, Anderson shared with Better Homes & Gardens why she chose to stop wearing makeup:

"That was the beginning of me letting go of the image I had always had of myself."

"What is this cartoon character that I'd created? OK, that was fun. But I'm not that person anymore."