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Iconic actress, Pamela Anderson, told Newstalk ZB\u2019s Mike Hosking ahead of the release of her memoir Love, Pamela and her documentary Pamela, a Love Story that was a \u201crelief\u201d to be able to tell her side of a story that has been told by many others over the years.

Anderson catapulted onto our screens with Baywatch and Home Improvement and her career has featured more than 25 movies, dozens of TV shows and relationships with the likes of Tommy Lee and Julian Assange.

\u201cI never felt like I was ever going to get the chance to do it because I always felt so different, kind of like an observer looking at somebody else\u2019s life and the people that knew me always thought that one day I would tell it how it was.

\u201cIt\u2019s such a relief. I haven\u2019t been this happy in a long, long time. I feel like the weight of the world is off my shoulders.\u201d

Anderson says that while the memoir has taken some time to be finished and released, the timing was fortuitous as her documentary was released at the same time as her book.

\u201cI said here\u2019s the keys to the archives, I don\u2019t know what I\u2019ve saved, what\u2019s up there, but I know there\u2019s no dead bodies up there, just have at it and don\u2019t tell me anything, I\u2019ll see it at the premiere.\u201d

Anderson told Mike Hosking she wanted to bring the audience along with her and felt not wearing makeup would be the most authentic way to do so.

\u201cI just said film it, I don\u2019t care. I\u2019m going to take everything off and I want to go through this journey with people.

\u201cIf you like me at my worst, you can like me at my best, maybe. I thought I\u2019m just a human being and this is what I look like.\u201d

Love, Pamela is out now. Photo / Supplied

While Pamela is a pop culture icon to many, there are clips in the documentary in which she suffers horrendous treatment at the hands of the likes of David Letterman, but says it was moments like that that have made her who she is today.

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be able to do what I\u2019m doing now,\u201d she says \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be able to write a book, I feel like everything happened for a reason and I don\u2019t feel like a victim at all, I feel like I\u2019ve had this really incredible opportunity now to be who I really am.\u201d

It\u2019s this reflection that Anderson says she is grateful for.

\u201cI kind of look at myself and think, wow, you got through a lot, I got through a lot of things and to still have joy and love and forgiveness and all of that good stuff.\u201d

When Julian Assange, activist and founder of WikiLeaks, was introduced to her the pair struck up a relationship in which Anderson would bring him vegan meals during his time at the Ecuadorian Embassy in London. She told Mike Hosking she is saddened by his experience and hopes for a resolution in the form of a pardon by US President Joe Biden.

\u201cThis psychological torture that he\u2019s going through, it\u2019s a waste of a beautiful mind and I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen, I hope Biden pardons him.\u201d

Being 55, single and not knowing what the future holds may be frightening for some, but Anderson says it is liberating.

\u201cThis is the sexiest time of my life, the most romantic time in my life,\u2019 says \u201cthe capacity to be alone is the capacity to love, you have to know how to be alone and how to love yourself.\u201d

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