Pamela Anderson describes Playboy image as cartoon character

Pamela Anderson has described her Playboy image as a "cartoon character".

The 57-year-old model, actress and activist has adopted more of a makeup-free lifestyle in recent years, and she admitted stepping back from Hollywood and away from her sex symbol status was a conscious decision.

Reflecting on her natural look at Paris Fashion Week last year, she told Better Homes and Gardens magazine: "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."

The Baywatch star was also keen to "challenge the idea of beauty and this mask we put on".

She insisted she "didn't think anyone would even notice" the change, but her world has "opened up".

She added: "As soon as I took the mask off, the whole world opened up.

"It just happened to be this silly thing of being at Paris Fashion Week and me saying, 'I'm not going to sit in a makeup chair for three hours. I'm going to the Louvre.'

"Then I thought, 'Who am I competing with?' I was appreciating it as this girl who lives on Vancouver Island that got plopped into these glamorous clothes.

"And I felt like this little freckle-faced kid with a big, beautiful Vivienne Westwood hat on."

Pamela is glad to move away from the "pneumatic kind of image" people have of her.

She explained: "As much as I threw every dinner party and cooked all those meals for family and my kids, it wasn't what was seen publicly. 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.

"I think the most important part is, I made it through all of it. And now it's such a relief that I get to be myself and enjoy this time."

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