From Megan Bartonhanson to Cardi B – the celebs who are baring all and coining it in on Onlyfans
How the subscription site changed the game for celebs on social media
It takes a lot to make heat blush – but Aisleyne Horgan-wallace has just done it. After all, the Big Brother alum may be a good friend of the magazine, but we rarely look at ourselves in the mirror full-frontal, let alone at a close pal. So, staring at a recent Instagram post – a naked snap of her, barely draped in a fur coat, with tiny censor squares blurring out her particulars – we swallow our shock and check out the caption. “Come see pics on
Onlyfans that I can’t post on here,” the 41 year old promises. “Link in bio.”
For those who’ve missed the behemothic rise of Onlyfans over the past few months, let’s recap. The subscription site was originally launched in 2016, as a space for influencers to sell premium content such as recipes, music and workouts – imagine Instagram with a pay wall. But it soon became the go-to safe space for sex workers to post X-rated content – the benefit being that, while sites like Pornhub and Stripchat take a massive cut of earnings, Onlyfans only takes 20 per cent. What’s more, creators are paid weekly, and are totally in control of what they post – reducing the risk of exploitation.
But it wasn’t until lockdown came into effect that celebrities got involved, sending the platform’s value soaring. As Insta #spon deals dwindled, TV spots were cancelled and sexy photo shoots were put on hold, reality stars such as Lauren Goodger, Kerry Katona and Danielle Lloyd headed straight over to the one platform that guaranteed a pay out. Whether they took their knickers off in the process was up to them.
POWER TO THE POSERS
“I’ve always had a big work ethic,” Aisleyne tells us, one month after her Onlyfans debut. “If I’m not earning, it doesn’t feel right. I already have a big income from my properties, but things got really quiet over lockdown and I got itchy feet. I was concerned about people’s perceptions [of the site], but then I saw other celebs joining and realised it wasn’t what I thought it was. I’m now totally addicted.”
You can’t blame her – in four weeks alone, the self-labelled grafter has risen to the top 0.5 per cent of Onlyfans creators, with 10k fans to her name. She declines to tell us just how much money she’s earning – “There is a tax man at the end of the day” – but with users paying anything between £5 and £50 per month to subscribe, a star can make a very decent living. Former Love Islander Megan Barton-hanson, who was a camgirl and a stripper before her reality TV career, has proven just how lucrative the platform can be: she’s now in the top ten earners worldwide, and is thought to be making over £800k per month.
Aisleyne says, “The way I rationalise it is, when I’m 80 and sipping gin out of my teacup, am I going to be saying, ‘I wish I hadn’t joined Onlyfans’, or am I going to be like, ‘Well done, me – I had a great body and I embraced it’? I know I’ll be glad I did it.” For Aisleyne, and other reality stars who made their names back in the early noughties, the site is almost like a throwback to their lads’ mag glory days –except this time, they’re calling the shots. “We’re finally owning our own image and how much we’re paid,” she tells us. “I find it empowering.”
Aisleyne’s love of the platform is echoed by Kerry Katona, who says she’s found a new fanbase and a way to take ownership of her Page 3 past. Speaking to Hits Radio’s Fleur East last month, Kerry explained, “I was supposed to do a classy nude shoot for a tabloid for a couple of grand, but then we went into lockdown. Like everyone else, I was struggling, I couldn’t pay my rent – so I said to my fiancé, ‘Should we do Onlyfans?’ and it turned my life around. I’m not doing anything
I haven’t already done – you’ve only got to search, ‘Kerry Katona topless’. So, why should somebody else make money off that, when I can do it myself ? I can’t sing, can’t cook, but I’ve got great boobs, so I’m going to make the most of it.”
HIDDEN COSTS?
The gobsmacking growth of Onlyfans in such a short time is enough to send shivers down Mark Zuckerberg’s spine. At the start of lockdown, the site had less than 10million subscribers – it now has roughly 60m, with 200k joining every day. And it’s not just UK reality stars cashing in – US celebs such as Cardi B and former Disney star Bella Thorne are also uploading “exclusive” – but not necessarily X-rated – content. Meanwhile, male stars – including rapper Tyga, rugby player Chris Robshaw (who’s selling workouts and nutrition advice), and former stripper-turned-katie Price’s ex-husband Kieran Hayler – are also signing up.
But while the site is being lauded as a new way for celebrities and fans to mutually benefit from each other, there’s been some inevitable criticism along the way – not least from OG content creators, who aren’t so happy that their trade has been co-opted. At the beginning of the pandemic, Onlyfans gave sex workers – plus many others who’d lost their jobs – a sense of financial security. But their popularity dropped as big names showed up. “Celebrities already have such a big platform outside of Onlyfans,” one unnamed sex worker recently told The New Statesman. “So, when they do come to Onlyfans, they move to the top. They take these spots away from hard-working sex workers who probably worked up from nothing.” There’s also the risk of racy content finding its way onto pornographic sites. And while Onlyfans has a strict anti-piracy policy, its accelerating popularity means it’s becoming more difficult to police against incidences of revenge porn.
Then, of course, there’s that nuanced matter of exploitation. As we’ve already discovered, most creators feel a sense of empowerment, but we can’t ignore the fact that users are paying for a service, so they might just feel a sense of entitlement in the process. Speaking to heat, Babestation TV presenter
Hannah Mac tells us some of her fans are very involved in her day-to-day life. “I’ll log on before going out in the evening,” she says. “Some people will say, ‘Have you got a leather jacket? Wear that and take a photo.’ They’ll ask for specific looks and, if I can do them, I will.” Hannah also adds that she feels “no pressure at all” to cater to demand – but that’s not to say other creators don’t feel more indebted to the hand that feeds them.
WHO’S IN CONTROL?
The bottom line is – like social media as a whole – the platform can be a source of good and bad. It can empower and overpower, depending on who’s holding the camera, who’s posting the snap and who’s clicking “subscribe”. Ultimately, most users agree it’s
‘I’ve got great boobs, I’m going to make the most of it’
one of the most honest platforms out there, and while celebs have been accused of “using” their fanbase to make money, there’s no denying that they’re being far more transparent than some of the influencers peddling #spon content on Instagram and Youtube.
As for the future, it’s safe to say that Onlyfans’ success is only growing, but what direction it takes remains to be seen. Who knows whether it will strengthen the connection between celebs and their followers, or instead draw an invisible transactional line between them. Likewise, whether it will destigmatise and normalise porn, or revert back to its more Pg-friendly roots – and push out sex workers in the process.
Either way, as Aisleyne and friends continue to elicit our blushes, we know we’ll be seeing even more bits of our favourite celebs moving forwards – so long as we’re willing to follow that link in their bios and hit “subscribe”. n