Brooks Nader and Livvy Dunne Are Both Gunning for the Pamela Anderson Spot in Baywatch

The Baywatch reboot hasn’t even hit screens yet and the drama is already running hot. Brooks Nader and Livvy Dunne — two of the new series’ most buzzed-about cast members — are reportedly locked in a quiet but very real competition over who gets to carry Pamela Anderson’s legacy into the next era of the franchise.

A source on set told TMZ that there’s been “tension” between the two women, with conversations about who fills the “Pamela Anderson lane” becoming a recurring topic behind the scenes. Both stars have apparently been openly discussing the “next Pam Anderson” comparison at different points during production — which, as you might imagine, hasn’t exactly made for a breezy set atmosphere.

On paper, Nader has the clearest claim. She plays Selene, the sharp-tongued Captain of the Zuma beach lifeguards, and appears in virtually every episode of the reboot. Dunne, the gymnast-turned-influencer and LSU legend, plays junior lifeguard Grace — but only appears in three episodes. By screen time alone, it’s not close.

But screen time isn’t the whole story. Dunne’s social media reach is staggering, and sources say that influence hasn’t gone unnoticed during filming. When you have millions of followers hanging on your every post, you carry star power into any room — even one where someone else has top billing.

Red Carpet Tension

The behind-the-scenes rivalry reportedly made its way onto the red carpet at the 2026 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit launch party in New York City, where both women appeared together. According to sources, Nader was keenly aware of how the photographers were framing Dunne — and at one point directed the cameras to capture Dunne’s good side while they posed together. Whether that reads as gracious or calculated probably depends on who you ask.

Dunne, for her part, was celebrating a milestone of her own that night. She’s now been featured in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit for four consecutive years. “The fact that they keep asking me back — I’m just so flattered,” she said at the event, adding that she felt honored to stand alongside the magazine’s other cover girls. Her boyfriend, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, has apparently been her most enthusiastic cheerleader through it all — Dunne told People he always loves seeing her SI Swimsuit photos.

Nader’s connection to that same red swimsuit runs deep too. When she first put on the iconic Baywatch one-piece for the reboot, she told People she was “bawling, crying.” She’d worn a red one-piece on her own Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover, so slipping into it again for the show felt like something bigger than a costume fitting. “It’s such a full-circle moment,” she said. “It’s such a big moment, and I’m so honored to be a part of it.” She even FaceTimed her family in the swimsuit — and they cried too.

What the Reboot Actually Looks Like

The new Baywatch is set to debut on Fox as part of the 2026–2027 season. Stephen Amell leads the cast as Hobie Buchannon, grown up and now carrying on his father Mitch’s lifeguard legacy. The central plot kicks off when a daughter Hobie never knew he had — Charlie, played by Jessica Belkin — shows up at his door and joins the Zuma beach crew. Her arrival also escalates existing tension between Hobie and Nader’s Selene, who runs things her own way and isn’t thrilled about the disruption.

It’s a setup built for drama, both onscreen and apparently off it.

For context on just how massive the shoes being fought over actually are: the original Baywatch reached over one billion weekly viewers at its peak. Pamela Anderson’s C.J. Parker — red swimsuit, slow-motion run, the whole thing — became one of the defining images of 90s pop culture. That kind of legacy doesn’t just sit quietly in the background. It looms.

Anderson herself has had a complicated relationship with the franchise’s revival attempts. When the 2017 Baywatch movie with Dwayne Johnson was in production, she told Variety that producers pressured her to do a cameo for free — framing it as an “homage” — and kept pushing even after she said no. She eventually agreed, but only without dialogue, showing up at the end for a single slow-motion scene. “There was just so much bullying to do it,” she said.

Anderson hasn’t publicly named a successor or weighed in on the reboot’s casting. But with two of the most talked-about women in the country both vying for her crown, it’s safe to say the conversation has already started without her.