Pamela Anderson reveals childhood sexual abuse

Competing films were overshadowed yesterday at the Cannes Film Festival, after Pamela Anderson confessed to be the victim of childhood sexual abuse.

The former Baywatch star who was attending a Cannes event during Sunday, launching her new animal rights charity, said she had been abused by 'my female babysitter' between the ages of 6 and 10 and then, at the age of 12, she was raped by a 25-year-old man.

Anderson declared that the man 'decided to teach me backgammon, which led into a back massage, which led into rape—my first sexual experience.'

The star also talked about other childhood hardships in her life and how her love for animals came to be: 'My parents tried to keep me safe, but to me the world was not a safe place. My dad was an alcoholic, my mum worked two jobs, my mum was always crying, dad didn't always come home. It came to me naturally.The trees spoke to me. My loyalty was with the animal kingdom and I vowed to protect them and only them. I prayed to the whales with my feet in the ocean, my only real friends until I had children.'