Pam & Tommy: The Real Story Behind Their Whirlwind Wedding

The couple got married after knowing each other for four days

Pamela Anderson & Tommy Lee

by Hanna Woodside |
Updated on

Before there was Julia Fox and Kanye, before Bennifer, before Brangelina, there was Pam and Tommy, the OG power tabloid celebrity couple back in the nineties. Last year, Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee's whirlwind romance was turned into an eight-part biopic, Pam & Tommy, on Disney+ and the world was fascinated with them all over again. But after Pamela Anderson condemned the series and announced her own Netflix documentary, Pamela: A Love Story, out on January 31st, many are now keen to hear her recount her life in her own words.

There's so much fans want to know, from Pam and Tommy's first meeting was like to how their whirlwind wedding really happened. Here, we dive into what's out there right now, and what Pam has said about it all previously...

How did Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee meet?

The pair first met on New Year’s Eve 1994 at the Sanctuary club on Hollywood's Sunset Strip, and the chemistry was instant. 'He came up, grabbed me and licked my face,' Pamela said in an interview with Movieline the following year (we see the face-licking in the Disney show, too). 'I thought he was a cool, friendly, nice guy. I gave him my number.'

According to Rolling Stone, Tommy bombarded Pam with phone calls and messages and he eventually spoke to her again in February as she was about to fly to Cancun in Mexico to promote Baywatch. Pamela told Movieline that she begged Tommy not to follow her there, but apparently he just said, 'Ok, see you later'.

He did follow her to Cancun, and the pair met up, partying hard for three days straight, during which Tommy proposed and wasting no time, they married the next day on 19 February.

Where did Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee get married?

The couple had a barefoot ceremony on a beach in Cancun, with just eight guests in attendance. Pamela wore a white bikini, and Tommy wore shorts. Instead of rings, they had tattoos of each other's name inked onto their ring fingers. After they were announced husband and wife, Tommy thew Pam into the sea in celebration. Pam's mum learned of the marriage from People magazine.

Pam and Tommy's beach wedding
©Getty

The couple moved into Tommy's mansion in Malibu, which he was renovating at the time. Refusing to pay his electrician, Rand Gauthier, the disgruntled contractor stole a safe from the couple's garage, which contained the now infamous sex tape made on the couple's honeymoon (although Pam later said in an interview that it 'was not a sex tape' but a 'compilation of vacations that we were naked on'.

How long were Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee married?

In February 1998, after three years of marriage, Tommy attacked Pamela kicking her several times. In May 1998, he was charged with spousal abuse and sentenced to six months in prison. That same month, Pamela filed for divorce.

The couple got back together in 2008, but by 2010 the relationship had fallen apart again and they went their separate ways.

Did Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee have children?

The couple had their first son, Brandon Thomas Lee, in June 1996 and their second son, Dylan Jagger Lee, in December 1997. Now 26, according to his Instagram bio, Brandon is a golfer, investor and owner of a clothing line called Swingers Club Classic. His younger brother Dylan, who is now 25, is a model and musician; he's appeared in campaigns for Acne Studios, Armani Exchange, Dolce & Gabbana, Hugo Boss and True Religion, and his band Midnight Kids released its debut EP 'The Lost Youth' in 2020.

READ MORE: Who's Who In The Pam & Tommy Cast

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