Pamela Anderson revealed at Cannes that she was sexually abused as a child

Los Angeles - Pamela Anderson has revealed she was molested and repeatedly raped as a child.

The former Baywatch actress opened up about her "most painful memories" of being sexual abused for the first time and admitted the terrifying ordeals left her feeling suicidal, as she launched her new animal welfare charity, The Pamela Anderson Foundation, at the Cannes International Film Festival.

The 46-year-old star nervously told her guests: "I feel now might be the time to reveal a few of my most painful memories. At the risk of over-exposing myself, again, or being inappropriate, again, I thought I might share with you why I am doing this.

"I did not have an easy childhood, I was molested from age six by a female babysitter.

"I went to her boyfriend's house, and his older brother decided to teach me backgammon, which led into a back massage, which led into rape - my first heterosexual experience. He was 25 years old and I was 12."

Pamela, who re-married her ex-husband Rick Salomon earlier this year, was later gang raped by her first boyfriend and his friends.

She explained: "He decided it would be funny to gang rape me with six friends. I wanted off this earth.''

She added: "This meant I had a hard time trusting humans. I wasn't sure why I was alive. A burning question."

Pamela doesn't blame her parents for the assaults.

She said: "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."

But the actress, who has sons Brandon, 17, and Dylan, 16, with her ex-husband Tommy Lee, credited her love of animals for helping her to move past the incidents.

She said: "My infinity with animals saved me. 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."