Pamela Anderson has been in the spotlight for decades but in recent years, the actress, activist, and model has mostly stayed off the big screen. That all changed this month when Anderson made a welcome return with her autobiographical Netflix film Pamela, A Love Story, in which she filled in the blanks of her highly publicized life, drawing from her own experience.
The documentary closely follows the January 2023 release of her memoir, Love, Pamela, another medium in which Anderson takes control of her own life’s narrative.
A topic Anderson has held near her heart for most of her life is animal rights, and her newest on-screen venture will put veganism at the forefront with a show on Food Network Canada.
Netflix
Tentatively titled Pamela’s Cooking With Love, the forthcoming cooking series will feature Anderson as sous-chef and host as she explores the world of plant-based cooking and entertaining alongside influential guest chefs.
The show will feature eight, hour-long episodes created to share exciting plant-based experiences with friends, family, and viewers, including afternoon cocktail garden parties, intimate family dinners, and gatherings around the campfire.
“Creating elegant and inviting spaces that inspire a compassionate, calm, and healthy environment has always been important to me and comes naturally,” Anderson said in a statement.
“Corus Studios and I have set mutual goals with good intentions. It’s been a learning curve—and I am confident they will be a positive partner in helping bring my true vision to life,” she said.
Produced by Fireworks Media Group, the cooking show will begin production this summer and is slated for release in 2024. Additionally, a second season of HGTV Canada hit series Pamela’s Garden of Eden has been greenlit for production. In this hit series, Anderson splits her time between Los Angeles and Vancouver Island, where she and her son Brandon Lee work to renovate the family’s legacy property.
Corus Studios will distribute both of these series internationally.
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Pamela Anderson’s vegan activism
Anderson went vegetarian early in life when she saw a bloody deer, brought home by her hunter father and eventually went vegan.
Carmelo Redondo
For decades, Anderson has been a vocal animal-rights activist, participating in a number of campaigns with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) in which she used her Baywatch notoriety to bring attention to issues such as the cruelty of meat production, the fur trade, and more.
However, her work to advocate for animals goes beyond visual PETA campaigns. Over the years, Anderson has been a vocal advocate for putting plant-based food on prison menus; has personally sent messages about the benefits of veganism to high-profile individuals, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau; and distributed vegan meals during emergencies.
In 2017, Anderson was slated to be part of a French vegan restaurant La Table du Marche (The Market Table) but walked away from the venture, citing “circumstances out of my control,” and referencing issues such as mistreatment of staff.
Ashoka Paris
Since then, Anderson has been involved in a number of other vegan business ventures, including Pammies (an animal-free take on Ugg boots); apple leather handbag lines with French company Ashoka Paris; and a vegan shoe and champagne line with French department store chain Galeries Lafayette.
And her forthcoming Food Network show is not the first time Anderson has played host and sous-chef in a vegan cooking show. Back in 2015, Anderson starred in a series of 10 vignettes in The Sensual Vegan, a self-produced series—filmed inside her home kitchen by her brother Gerry Anderson—created to introduce viewers to the basics of vegan cooking.
Vegan cooking on the Food Network
Anderson’s show is the latest vegan cooking series to hit Food Network. Last year, actress and influencer Tabitha Brown hosted the first vegan Food Network cooking show It’s CompliPlated.
Here, Brown tasked competing chefs to create vegan dishes for picky eaters, including celebrity chef Maneet Chauhan. The purpose of this show was to bridge the gap between all types of eaters to bring everyone to the table.
Tabitha Brown/Feed the Soul
“Becoming vegan changed my life and the way I cook—and I know folks can relate to the daily challenge of making the whole family happy with one meal, so we decided to make a game of it,” Brown said in a statement last year. “These chefs cook from the heart and their food is mind-blowing—viewers are sure to have a blast and be inspired for their next family dinner.”
Outside of It’s CompliPlated and Anderson’s forthcoming cooking show, Food Network has been slowly embracing plant-based cooking by highlighting it in other shows, most recently in Beat Bobby Flay and The Great Food Truck Race.
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Anna Starostinetskaya is the Senior News Editor at VegNews and is always keeping an eye on all things vegan in her home city of San Francisco, CA and everywhere else.
