Pamela Anderson said it was a "massive battle" to get people to believe that she could write her own book, and said that she gained around 25 lbs. during the one-woman process to churn out the soon-to-be-released memoir.
The Baywatch alum, 55, opened up about her experience writing Love, Pamela on The Howard Stern Show Wednesday, telling host Howard Stern that she did all the work without using a ghostwriter or collaborator.
"It was crazy, but I had a physical reaction to telling my story," Anderson told Stern, 69, then noting that she shed the extra weight when she finished the project. "It was almost like I was hanging on to something — It was a protective … my puffy suit of armor. I don't know what it was — I was thinking it was some kind of protection."
Anderson said that reliving her past "took its toll" emotionally, but ultimately, she told her publisher she was only writing the book "if she could tell it herself." Anderson added that the company "really liked" her writing style.
Anderson, a former Playboy model and one of the biggest sex symbols in the world in the 1990s, had a private sex tape stolen and released, which only further catapulted her fame. It featured Mötley Crüe rocker Tommy Lee, with whom she shares two sons — Dylan, 26, and Brandon, 25.
As far as her relationship with Lee, 60, now, Anderson told Stern that they "text here and there" as parents, "nothing crazy," noting that the musician is married to comedian Brittany Furlan Lee and "happy."
"She's good to him and I totally support that and think that's great, she continued, adding: "I hate to be annoying and going through this again, I'm sure she's annoyed, but I respect their relationship and just glad he's happy and has someone in his life."
Anderson echoed similar sentiments while in conversation with PEOPLE this month, stating, "We check in with each other every once in a while. It's a very familiar voice. He's got a great voice. And he's, I don't know how to explain it, it just feels normal, like home."
She added: "He has a wife, and obviously I respect that relationship, and he is very happy and I'm happy for him. I'm just glad my boys are so well-adjusted, and I'm very proud of them because they've had to navigate, not an easy childhood either, but they did it. They've done it, and the future is to be seen."
After the release of Pam & Tommy, Hulu's 2022 series based on the sex tape incident that wound up getting nominated for 10 Emmys, Anderson decided to tell her own story.
"I remember seeing this Pam & Tommy thing on Hulu, or some advertisement for it, and I thought, 'What the hell is this?' " she said of realizing her life was taking center stage again without her knowledge.
"No one called me, not one asked me," Anderson added. "I'm still alive!" Ultimately, she heard it was a "shallow" representation of her and Lee. "I wish they would have called," the mother of two explained.
In October, PEOPLE shared the cover of Love, Pamela, which will be released by HarperCollins and Dey Street Books on Jan. 31.
In her recent interview with PEOPLE, Anderson said the book chronicles "just one girl's messy life" and is "a celebration of imperfections."
"These are all my feelings, about my life — no 'Woe is me,' though some times were tough," the star added. "I made it through, and had to find love in grace and dignity mixed with humor, acceptance and forgiveness."
The actress and model also told PEOPLE this month that she's both "proud of the final product" and "that it's behind me."
"The book is a raw, unpolished attempt — a very personal true account of my life, from my first memory to my last," she explained.
