MUMBAI : Actress Pamela Anderson said that the late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner is the only man to treat her with "complete and utter respect."

The 'Baywatch' star has revealed how the late Playboy founder's invitation to feature on the cover of his magazine helped her reclaim her sexuality, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

Asked if anyone "has ever treated her with complete and utter respect", Pamela told the Sunday Times newspaper: "Hugh Hefner."

The 55-year-old star appeared on the cover of Playboy a record 14 times but Hefner's legacy has been marred by allegations of abuse from inside the Playboy mansion following his death at the age of 91 in 2017.

Pamela, who has been married to Tommy Lee, Kid Rock, Rick Salomon, Jon Peter and Dan Hayhurst, came to public prominence after first appearing on the Playboy cover in 1990 and said that the experience helped her grow in confidence.

She recalled: "I was painfully shy, and I hated that feeling. That's why I did it. I just didn't want that feeling anymore. Doing that first photoshoot gave me this little kind of portal on what it felt like to be a sensual woman. My sexuality was mine. I took my power back."

The actress has penned a new memoir 'Love, Pamela' and revealed that she gained 25 pounds in the process of writing the book.

Pamela, whose story is also told in the new Netflix Documentary 'Pamela, a Love Story', said: "I went through kind of a crazy time writing the book. I started writing my book and I put on like 25 pounds, Crazy! I look back at it and I see how it was the book process because as I wrote my book, I didn't change too much."

"I mean, I was drinking earlier with the husband and stuff but I lost it all at the end of my book. It was crazy, it was crazy! I had a physical reaction to telling my story. It was almost like I was hanging on to something. It was a protective, my puffy suit of armour."

"I don't know what it was - I was thinking it was some kind of protection. It wasn't like I was eating any different, I'm vegan, I eat nuts and berries, you know, I don't eat a lot. But my body was changing!"

Source : Ians