Model, actress and environmental crusader Pamela Anderson is on a mission of rehabilitation.

Reached at her home in Ladysmith, B.C., she says the goal at hand is to overhaul the six-acre Vancouver Island property where spent her earliest years and now hopes to establish as a multi-generational haven for herself, her parents and her sons. ItB次元官网网址檚 the focus of her new HGTV Canada reality show, B次元官网网址淧amelaB次元官网网址檚 Garden of Eden,B次元官网网址� which premiered Thursday.

At the same time, the Hollywood star says sheB次元官网网址檚 been hit with a burst of introspection: while on the property she wrote a memoir due for release at the end of January and she is preparing to release a Netflix documentary about her life.

As much as the large-scale home renovation is a work in progress, B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 a work in progress,B次元官网网址� says Anderson.

B次元官网网址淐oming back here was really triggering. For me, itB次元官网网址檚 very emotional,B次元官网网址� Anderson says of revisiting roots to a childhood sheB次元官网网址檚 described as difficult.

B次元官网网址淲hen I came home, I think I was not as happy as I normally am. I came home to really face some things. ThereB次元官网网址檚 certain things in your life that you just kind of push aside and it was just so healing for me to come home and it took me a while to kind of grasp what I was putting myself through.B次元官网网址�

Further details about her early life and colourful celebrity career will be revealed in the upcoming memoir and streaming project, she assures, acknowledging that the recent reset to small-town life is worlds away from the tabloid-grabbing exploits of her B次元官网网址�90s heyday.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檇 never been on a plane before when I left this island. You know, I left the island and I went to Vancouver and then I moved to L.A. and then I went around the world and south of France for a year before I moved home,B次元官网网址� says Anderson, who first rocketed to fame as a Playboy pin-up and B次元官网网址淏aywatchB次元官网网址� TV star.

B次元官网网址淚 was restless when I was here. And I had to learn how to be comfortable, just relaxing and enjoying and putting all my creative juices into this project, making this an art project, listening to other peopleB次元官网网址檚 ideas.B次元官网网址�

Anderson says she bought the property about 30 years ago from her grandmother, believing she B次元官网网址渏ust needed some Canadian rootsB次元官网网址� and that she would move there one day. It would take longer than expected, she suggests in a first episode that briefly alludes to years of an B次元官网网址渙verwhelmedB次元官网网址� life in Los Angeles, a busy career and multiple high-profile marriages.

She says it was B次元官网网址済ut-wrenchingB次元官网网址� at first to return to the sprawling waterfront property, which includes three buildings known as the roadhouse, the boathouse and the cabin.

B次元官网网址淚 felt like this place was like a broken heart, which I really had to kind of turn around.B次元官网网址�

These days, Anderson says she relishes the new creative chores that occupy her time B次元官网网址� painting, repainting, pottery and vegetable canning among them B次元官网网址� while discovering her personal design style.

She acknowledges a lot of trial and error B次元官网网址� and possibly conflict B次元官网网址� over the design choices, chuckling over the folly of inviting cameras to watch her B次元官网网址渕elting down over which doorknob to put on your door.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not perfect. Some ideas are really bad and some ideas donB次元官网网址檛 work and some things IB次元官网网址檝e refinished and fixed and I waste a lot of money in solving those problems,B次元官网网址� says the 55-year-old, who began the venture with a $750,000 budget.

The crew, too, is a collection of B次元官网网址渕isfits,B次元官网网址� she adds.

B次元官网网址淚 wanted guys (for whom) this is their second or third chance in life. I wanted to bring people here that werenB次元官网网址檛, you know, perfect people. I wanted everyone to kind of have a fun project to do as a kind of healing place.B次元官网网址�

She introduces one of them in the first episode as her husband, revealing little about their courtship other than that heB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渁 normal guy, which is nice.B次元官网网址� Anderson declines to say more by phone and a spokesperson for HGTV Canada later says the couple filed for separation in January 2022.

The show gives us a window into AndersonB次元官网网址檚 goofy side as she wisecracks with the crew, and her well-established love of nature as she discusses the local wildlife and walks barefoot on the beach in loose, flowing dresses.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a far cry from from the big-coiffed, bombshell version of Anderson that made her a beauty icon, she agrees. But itB次元官网网址檚 genuine, she adds, and is in part an overture to her two adult sons who urged her to do the show because they saw a disconnect between her public persona and the woman they know.

B次元官网网址淢y sons were (like), B次元官网网址淢um, people donB次元官网网址檛 understand who you are,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� she says of Brandon Lee, a producer on the series, and Dylan Lee.

B次元官网网址淭hat doesnB次元官网网址檛 really bother me B次元官网网址� I am me. But it bothers them.B次元官网网址�

Anderson is happy to say her sons are spending B次元官网网址渕ore and moreB次元官网网址� time at the property as the renovation comes together, and she boasts of personal triumphs including a 460-square-metre garden bursting with produce. The B次元官网网址渉eart and soul of the propertyB次元官网网址� is a rose garden featuring AndersonB次元官网网址檚 favourite hot pink variety.

B次元官网网址淚 had them in all my flower arrangements all around the world. Wherever I was, whoever I was with, always knew this was my rose,B次元官网网址� says Anderson.

B次元官网网址淚 got 75 of these roses B次元官网网址� and planted them myself.

B次元官网网址淭hey all survived, which was a miracle.B次元官网网址�

Ladysmith Mayor Aaron Stone, in a social media post, expressed thanks to Anderson and celebrated the fact that PamelaB次元官网网址檚 Garden of Eden is set in Ladysmith after the town was previously transformed into, and .

B次元官网网址淟adysmith is back on the television mapB次元官网网址�B次元官网网址� the mayor exclaimed. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e so thankful to Pamela for her investment in her beautiful family property and sharing the story and heritage of our little hometown.B次元官网网址�

In tonightB次元官网网址檚 season premiere episode, Anderson will start with transforming the basement of the roadhouse into a laundry area, pantry and mudroom, but the series will ramp up as it goes along, culminating with turning the shoreline boathouse B次元官网网址渋nto an architectural masterpiece.B次元官网网址�

Along the way, the series promises B次元官网网址渟tresses, struggles, budget and time constraints.B次元官网网址�

PamelaB次元官网网址檚 Garden of Eden premieres tonight and airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on HGTV Canada. and streams Fridays on StackTV.

B次元官网网址擟assandra Szklarski, The Canadian Press, with a file from Black Press Media

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