Pamela Anderson Says She Felt "Exploited" While Filming Her Home Renovation Show

“I’m taking my power back, instead of giving it up,” she said of the new season.

Pamela Anderson is back with a second season of her HGTV home renovation show, Pamela's Garden of Eden (streaming now on Hulu), but as she reflects on her time with the series, she explained how different the vibes are going into the show's sophomore season than its first one. Pamela's Garden of Eden focuses on sustainable design, setting it apart from other shows that showcase over-the-top home transformations and even normal ones that brush off the fact that a huge amount of waste comes along with just about every home renovation. Anderson said that during production for the first season, she was in a bad place because of other projects and that she was unaware that certain parts of her live — her celebrity life specifically — would be sprinkled into the show and muddle up its message.

"The first season, I was a bit of a mess," Anderson told People. "It was not my favorite time of life. I was in survival mode while writing my memoir, the documentary was being made, and I was an open wound when it was being shot. I just wasn't that happy with it."

"The second season is about redemption, authenticity, truth, and self-acceptance," she explained. "I'm taking my power back, instead of giving it up. I took control of the show and figured out a way to keep to my vision, and turn it into a positive experience. I kept it real."

Related: Pamela Anderson Is Selling Her Entire Fashion Archive

"Before, I was thinking it was a little HGTV Canada show and that it was going to just be about sustainable design. I was wrong, unfortunately, and once again I felt slightly exploited," she noted. "I was allowing others to make decisions. I had no idea they’d use old photos or ex husbands, or any of my celebrity life. It always is shocking that that part of me seems interesting at all, when I felt my weakest and my worst. Anyway, that was then and this is now."

The first season of the show chronicled a major project: Anderson was redoing her grandmother's waterfront property on Vancouver Island, Canada, which she purchased decades ago. Season 2 will follow Anderson and her sons as they redesign a home in Los Angeles. So, not only is the show incorporating Anderson's environmental activism, it's giving her a chance to spend more time with her kids.

"We have gotten into our groove," she said of filming. "The boys are much more a part of the family property creation now, which was my dream. I wanted to involve them without consuming them. We also renovated their new house in L.A. while we had to wait for the never-ending permit and restriction process that comes with living on the water."

Anderson said that the show and her experience with it has taught her an important lesson: to slow down and take things in. She joked that for the new season, she let her sons do the heavy lifting while she enjoyed the Southern California sunshine by turning her efforts to the gardens and landscaping.

"I’ve learned not to rush things, to focus on the gardens while my sons figure out the buildings," she added. "I’m in a happy place, Surrounded by flowers, trees, and dogs."

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