Pamela Anderson revealed Hugh Hefner's disturbing request that forced her to leave Playboy Mansion

In the late 1990s, Pamela Anderson made the decision to depart from the Playboy Mansion for good, only revealing over two decades later that it was Hugh Hefner's controversial behaviour that had spurred it on.

She might be a household name now, but after being discovered by model scouts at a baseball game in 1989, the blonde beauty used her stint at the men's magazine - and Los Angeles mansion of the same name - as a means of first securing her status as a star.

Under editor-in-chief Hefner, the blonde bombshell became a global sex symbol, featuring on cover after cover.

In fact, to this day, she holds the award for the most Playboy front pages in history.

In the years that followed, Anderson would transition into acting, landing a minor role on the ABC sitcom Home Improvement, which would later see her starring as 'C.J. Parker' on the beachside action drama Baywatch.

Anderson left the mansion in the late 1990s (Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic, Inc)

Today, the 58-year-old remains one of the most widely sought-after stars, appearing in blockbuster movies, hosting cooking shows, rocking up to exclusive fashion shows, and conducting broadcast television interviews.

Such was also the case in 2018, when she reflected on her career during a catch-up with presenter Piers Morgan.

During the show, the mother-of-two, who shares her sons with ex Tommy Lee, was asked about her early days at Playboy, after which she dropped an almighty bombshell about her former boss.

In line with claims made by countless other Playboy bunnies - including Holly Madison and Kendra Wilkinson - Anderson said Hefner enjoyed group sex with his considerably-younger models, and would expect them to service him at any given moment.

It wasn't until following her fellow models up to bed one night that Anderson discovered this, however.

Anderson reflected on her time at Playboy (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures)

"Hef was charming and generous, but that night changed how I saw everything," she told Morgan on the show. "I followed some of the girls upstairs, curious about what was happening."

After being led into a bedroom in which seven other women were sitting around Hefner, she realised she'd been invited to take centre-stage.

"I stood at the end of the bed, watching the scene unfold," Anderson continued. "I realized this wasn’t a movie. It was real life. And I needed to leave."

"There were screens showing crazy things," Anderson confessed, adding it was 'not for me'.

Hefner died in 2017, after which Anderson expressed deep gratitude for the ways in which he helped her career.

She described her ex-employer as a 'true gentleman' at the time, writing on Instagram: "Everything people love about me is because you believed in me."