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Pamela Anderson was given 'around 10 years to live' when she was diagnosed with hepatitis C in the late 1990s, the emotional actress has revealed.
The Baywatch star, now 59, first publicly revealed her diagnosis in 2002, claiming she has contracted the liver-damaging disease by sharing a tattoo needle with ex-husband Tommy Lee.
Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes liver inflammation, sometimes leading to serious liver damage. Today, chronic hepatitis C is usually curable with oral medications taken every day for eight to 12 weeks.
Speaking at the amfAR Gala in Venice on Sunday, per Variety, the star said: 'It was a death sentence. That’s what my doctor told me - that I probably had around 10 years to live.
'I’m sure that colored and corrupted my decisions. It was not fear of death, but fear of what might happen to my young children. It turned my life inside out.'
Anderson and Lee share sons Brandon, now 30, and Dylan, now 28.
Pamela Anderson was given 'around 10 years to live' when she was diagnosed with hepatitis C in the late 1990s, the emotional actress has revealed - pictured September 2026
The Baywatch star, now 58, first publicly revealed her diagnosis in 2002, claiming she has contracted the liver-damaging disease by sharing a tattoo needle with ex-husband Tommy Lee - she is pictured in 1999 around the time she contracted the infection
A cure for the infection was discovered in 2011 and by 2015, Anderson was 'hep C free', though at a financial cost.
She admitted: 'It took everything I had in my bank [to pay for treatment ].'
The star, who was honored at the event with amfAR's Award of Courage, is still 'haunted' by the 'shame and guilt' she felt over contracting hepatitis C.
She continued: 'But my experience of shame and guilt was also an unconscious journey. It stays with me; it haunts me
'And just like the sexual abuse that I endured as a child, it felt like it was carved into my forehead: Damaged goods. And I presented myself as such.
'My truth has come through my work, finding ways to express myself through the arts. It gave me the ammunition I needed, a fertile life to use and play in.
'I’m not a victim, I’m a victor. I am strong and capable, more now than I could ever dream of … I’m not the damsel in distress, no matter how easy that role is to play.
In 2015, announcing her cure, Anderson told ET: 'They called me and said there's a cure, and you know, Tommy did it first so he got cured first.
The star is pictured with Lee in 1995
Speaking at the amfAR Gala in Venice on Sunday, per Variety , the star said, 'It was a death sentence. That’s what my doctor told me - that I probably had around 10 years to live' - pictured with Lee in 1999
'He had a different kind of treatment because he did it a year earlier than me. And he was always pushing me, "you got to do this, you got to do this."'
The self-styled actress, who claims she contracted the disease after sharing a contaminated tattoo needle with the wildman Girls, Girls, Girls rocker, also said she had an unusual form of the condition which doctors at the time of her diagnosis said would lead to her death in the space of a decade.
Pamela said: '20 years ago when they told me I had Hep C they told me I'd only live 10 years.
'Over the 20 years, about 10 years in they said that you could live your whole life with this disease and you may not die from it.
'You could more likely die from something else, but you could get liver cancer. You could get all these horrible other things.'
Pamela is hoping people afflicted will be able to follow a similar treatment course and get better.
She said: 'There are many different types of Hep C. I had a more uncommon one, the same as Tommy. Our type I took two pills a day for three months.
'But if you had type one for instance you'd only take one pill a day and you may only need to take it for eight weeks.
'I took mine for 12 weeks, so mine was a little more hard to cure but it still worked.'
What is hepatitis C and how can it be treated?
Hepatitis C is a viral infection that causes liver inflammation, sometimes leading to serious liver damage.
Today, chronic hepatitis C is usually curable with oral medications taken every day for two to six months.
However, about half of those infected with hepatitis C don't know they're infected, mainly because they have no symptoms, which can take decades to appear.
These include bleeding and bruising easily, fatigue, poor appetite, yellowing of the eyes and skin, dark colored urine and itchy skin.
Hepatitis C spreads when blood contaminated with the virus enters the bloodstream of an uninfected person.
Health care workers, people who have received blood transfusions before 1992, baby boomers born between 1945 and 1965, veterans and those who have been in prison are more at risk.
People who have received a piercing or tattoo in an unclean environment are also at risk, as are individuals who have injected or inhaled illicit drugs.
English (US) ·