Pamela Anderson Interview

Her thoughts on kids, Canada and her upcoming Just For Laughs gig

It's a little after 7:00 am in Los Angeles. Pamela Anderson is making Eggs Benedict. Her 2 boys from her marriage to Tommy Lee are playing Xbox in the other room. “They have huge breakfasts every morning,” she tells me. “They're 12 and 14 so they eat a lot.” After breakfast she'll drive them to school, and then go for a run. It would seem the British Columbia-born sex symbol, famous for the first celebrity sex tape, large boobs, and Baywatch, is just like you and me.

Anderson will be in Montreal to host a Just For Laughs Gala on July 15. I spoke to her earlier this week on my radio show on CJAD. She is not known for comedy; she's been more the butt of jokes than the one doing the joking. She does remind me, though, that she guest-hosted Saturday Night Live back in 1997.

The Just For Laughs galas are a highpoint of the festival, with celebrity comics hosting a usually impressive lineup of seasoned comedians. They don't give out gala-hosting duties to just anyone, although in past years other actors not known for their comedic skills have hosted galas. Former Montrealer William Shatner won the crowd with his antics in 2007. And Luke Perry did a passable job as a gala host in 1999.

“I love hosting things,” Anderson says. When her agent called with the offer to host a gala, Anderson asked “Can I dance?” Fresh off a stint on Dancing With the Stars, she was eliminated in May, but still has the dancing bug. So she called Damien Whitewood, her partner on the show, who jumped at the chance to come to Montreal to dance her across the Just For Laughs stage. “We're planning a bit of an entrance,” she tells me. “It's just another opportunity to be on stage and have some fun.” Pamela admits she was flattered they even asked her to host. “I think it's going to be a really fun show,” she says. “We're gonna put together something funny. I'm just planning on having a really good time.”

Anderson sounds excited to be in Montreal, claiming she'd never been here before. But there was one memorable appearance, at a Grand Prix party at a Montreal nightclub in 2008. Memorable because, true to her form, as it were, Anderson wore a sheer white shirt with no bra underneath, pointing out her excitement for all to see. Still, she says, “I hear it's beautiful.”

To think it all started with a chance camera shot at a B.C. Lions football game. Before that, the former waitress never thought about a career in entertainment. And now she's famous for, well, for being Pamela Anderson who, at 43 (she'll celebrate her birthday on Canada Day) looks fantastic. Her secret to staying shape? “Have kids,” she says. “Chase 'em around. They're the ones that keep me in shape. I'm constantly busy with these guys.”

Dan Laxer is an announcer at Montreal's CJAD Radio, a budding stand-up comedian, and a writer. He is Citeeze's entertainment writer.