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

The Baywatch reboot isn’t even on the air yet, and it’s already delivering drama. Behind the scenes of Fox’s highly anticipated revival, a competition is quietly heating up between two of its most high-profile cast members — Brooks Nader and Livvy Dunne — over who gets to inherit the Pamela Anderson lane.

A source on set tells TMZ there’s been “tension” between the two women, with both openly discussing the “next Pam Anderson” comparison at various points during production. Anderson, of course, made her role as C.J. Parker one of the most iconic characters in TV history — the red swimsuit, the slow-motion run, the cultural imprint that lasted decades. At its peak, the original series drew over one billion weekly viewers. The shoes being fought over here are very large ones.

“There’s been some tension between the two,” the source says.

Who Has the Edge?

On paper, Nader has the clearer path. She plays Selene, described as “the sharp-tongued Captain of the Zuma beach lifeguards,” and appears in virtually every episode of the reboot as a season regular. The show follows Hobie Buchannon — played by Stephen Amell — stepping into his father’s legacy, and Selene’s clashing approach to lifeguarding puts her in direct conflict with Hobie from the jump. It’s a meaty, central role, and Nader has made no secret of how much it means to her.

Speaking to People back in March, she described putting on the iconic red one-piece for the first time as a full-on emotional moment. “I was bawling, crying,” she said. “It’s such a full-circle moment” — noting that she’d previously worn a red one-piece on her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover, which made the whole thing feel like “a long time in the making.” She FaceTimed her family in the swimsuit and they burst into tears too. “It’s such a big moment, and I’m so honored to be a part of it,” she gushed.

Dunne, meanwhile, only appears in three episodes as junior lifeguard Grace. But anyone who’s underestimated Livvy Dunne’s reach before has regretted it. The former LSU gymnast-turned-mega-influencer brings a social media army with her everywhere she goes, and that kind of offscreen star power doesn’t just evaporate when the cameras stop rolling — it amplifies everything she does onscreen. Sources say her following hasn’t gone unnoticed during filming.

The Red Carpet Moment That Said Everything

The simmering competition reportedly made its way off set and onto the red carpet at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit launch party in New York City, where the two appeared together. According to sources, Nader was noticeably tuned in to how photographers were framing Dunne — and at one point directed them to capture her co-star’s good side while they posed together.

It’s a small detail, but it speaks volumes about the awareness both women have of each other’s positioning in this moment.

Both Nader and Dunne have deep ties to Sports Illustrated Swimsuit — another layer to this story that makes the dynamic even more layered. Dunne celebrated four consecutive years featured in the magazine at the launch event, saying, “The fact that they keep asking me back — I’m just so flattered.” Her boyfriend, Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes, is apparently her biggest fan when it comes to the SI spreads.

Nader, for her part, has been leaning hard into her Baywatch identity. In a recent Instagram dump from a cast dinner, she posed alongside co-stars Shay Mitchell, Dunne, Jessica Belkin, and Hassie Harrison — and announced the show’s January premiere with the caption: “January can’t come soon enough, ok back to saving lives!!”

What Pamela Anderson Actually Thinks of the Baywatch Legacy

Anderson herself has had a complicated relationship with the franchise she helped define. When Paramount revived Baywatch as a 2017 film starring Dwayne Johnson, producers pushed her hard to appear in a cameo — for free, framed as “an homage.” She pushed back, asking to be paid. They kept hounding her until she eventually agreed, but on her terms: no dialogue, just a slow-motion walk-on at the end. She told Variety in 2023 it felt like “so much bullying.”

Anderson hasn’t publicly named a protégé to carry her C.J. Parker torch into this new era — but Nader and Dunne have clearly decided the question is worth competing over themselves.

The Baywatch reboot hits Fox in January 2027. By then, the slow-motion running will be the least competitive thing happening on that beach.