Pamela Anderson Says It's "Tough" Staying Single After Dating So Many "Bad Boys"

"I didn't go after any bad boys. Bad boys came after me!"

Pamela Anderson has loose blonde curls and minimal makeup as she attends The Daily Front Row Fashion Media Awards 2023 on September 08, 2023, wearing a cream one-shoulder dress
(Image credit: Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for The Daily Front Row)

Pamela Anderson's much-deserved renaissance continues, as she has been selected as one of Glamour's Women of the Year, alongside Serena Williams. In a wide-ranging interview with the publication, Anderson reflects on everything from her dextrous career to her family life and the men she's fallen in love with along the way.

After being asked about her identity, Anderson told the interviewer, "Well, it’s shedding those layers, those protective layers." She continued, "I realized as a very young child, I was playing roles my whole life. I had such a strong imagination. And it’s just what I did. I didn’t realize that was a career."

Exploring how her imagination has influenced much of her adult life, Anderson explained, "And then as I moved here [to the USA from her native Canada] and then Playboy ... or being married to Tommy [Lee], or whatever it was ... I just always wanted to be the best I could be at that."

Always inquisitive, Anderson pontificated, "What is a Playmate? What is a rock star’s wife? What is a Baywatch [star]?"

Ultimately, Anderson decided she needed to take some time for herself to truly understand who she was. "This last couple of years ... it was an effort to just stay alone and figure out what I love, what I like, what I want to do," she told the publication.

Pamela Anderson wears a black suit, black heels, and minimal makeup to the premiere of The Last Showgirl at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival on September 06, 2024

"I’ve nothing against makeup, but I felt like it just looked better on me in my 20s than it did now."

(Image credit: Kayla Oaddams/Getty Images)

As for her tumultuous relationship history, which has seen the actress marry on six occasions, she told Glamour, "I didn’t go after any bad boys. Bad boys came after me!"

In recent years, Anderson has embraced going makeup free, often attending high-profile events wearing minimal or no makeup at all.

"I’ve just done it and I’ve played with it," she told the outlet of her decision to stop using as much makeup.

"I’ve nothing against makeup, but I felt like it just looked better on me in my 20s than it did now," Anderson explained. "You’re going to hit a crossroads in your 50s, and you go, Am I going to chase youth? Am I going to be miserable? Or am I going to be self-accepting? And it’s a practice. And it’s hard to say that you’re attempting all this if you’re still doing the red carpets and the covers of magazines plastered in makeup."

Amy Mackelden
Contributing Editor

Amy Mackelden is a contributing editor at Marie Claire, where she covers celebrity and royal family news. She was the weekend editor at Harper’s BAZAAR for three years, where she covered breaking celebrity and entertainment news, royal stories, fashion, beauty, and politics. Prior to that, she spent a year as the joint weekend editor for Marie Claire, ELLE, and Harper's BAZAAR, and two years as an entertainment writer at Bustle. Her additional bylines include Cosmopolitan, People, The Independent, HelloGiggles, Biography, Shondaland, Best Products, New Statesman, Heat, and The Guardian. Her work has been syndicated by publications including Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Esquire, Delish, Oprah Daily, Country Living, and Women's Health. Her celebrity interviews include Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Chastain, the cast of Selling Sunset, Emma Thompson, Jessica Alba, and Penn Badgley. In 2015, she delivered an academic paper at Kimposium, the world's first Kardashian conference.