Nudes4Sale

This programme contains some scenes of a sexual nature and some strong language.

The sex industry is changing.

People are becoming online entrepreneurs by selling nudes.

So, maybe you turn around and give her a little twerk. I'm going to...

Or do you want me to just twerk my bum... Yeah. Perfect. Yeah.

The appeal is simple.

It's fast, it's easy...

I've taken a picture in my seat before. Topless.

On a flight?

Yeah.

SHE CHUCKLES

..and the money you can earn is huge.

So, how much money were you making at that point?

At that point, I was making, like, 15,000 to 20,000 a month.

Can you think of any other jobs in this area where you could earn

anything near that? Definitely not, nowadays. 100%.

Unless you're a drug dealer.

SHE CHUCKLES

But is it exploiting young girls' desire to earn money fast,

leading them into a job in porn?

How many messages have I had?

They want to see stuff, like, me and him.

It's basically porn, isn't it? Well, yeah.

And how old were you?

16.

Welcome to OnlyFans.

OnlyFans is a social media platform similar to those you use already,

but your content is hidden until your fans subscribe to you

for a monthly subscription price that you set.

I want to meet the women shaking up the sex industry.

23-year-old Lauren from Northamptonshire is on her way

to being one of the top earners in the world when it comes

to selling nudes.

Keep that. Very nice.

Widen your knees for me, and take your hands through your hair.

Push it up a little bit now. Yeah.

18 months ago, Lauren quit her 9-5 job in an office,

and now this is her life.

That's nice. Perfect.

I'd be so useless at this.

SHE SMIRKS

I'm really impressed. Really?

Yeah. You make it look so easy, and so natural.

What kind of photos get the most likes?

So, like, girl-next-door?

Like, I don't really wear a lot of make-up, and things like that,

and quite an innocent look is...

It's, like, that's my niche, I would say.

Head back a bit for me and lean forward more.

How much money do you make from this?

So, every month, it goes up,

and I don't have an average,

and I used to make 20,000 a year,

and now I make a lot more than that every single month.

OK. Those are all, like...

So it's what you would have earned in one day,

and then what you get paid every day. Just... That is mad.

You're making $10 every, like, four minutes.

THEY CHUCKLE

That's bad.

SHE LAUGHS

Lauren's biggest source of income is from a social media site

called Only Fans.

Her page has over 2,000 subscribers.

She charges each one $15 a month to unlock her page.

That's nearly 35 grand EVERY month,

and puts her in the top 0.06% of their earners.

I mean, you can make so much money.

How many of them would you kind of chat to on a daily, weekly basis?

Oh, my God.

So many. It's like...

It never, ever stops. Hundreds.

They're always online, because they're all around the world,

so I have to try.

I think that's a priority of mine to be different,

and to just reply all the time,

even though it's getting bigger and bigger.

Every single person that messages you, you reply to?

Yeah. And is that because you want to try and keep

those people engaged, and you want to keep them subscribing?

That's part of the experience - talking to me.

They're paying to talk to me. So, just from a standard subscription.

So, I think it's pretty important to reply to them.

It's fascinating cos it's, like...

Do you think that...?

Do you think these people feel like they know you?

Yeah, some of them. Yeah.

Do you ever feel scared?

Yeah, I do,

but I don't publicise where I live.

The only thing that upsets me is when I have friends that strongly

don't agree to the point of cutting me out of their life.

You have to be smart. Yeah.

If I spend all this money now, like obviously I'm aware

this doesn't have longevity.

My biggest fear is going back into an office and being normal again.

Really? Mm-hm.

And to prevent that happening, Lauren has to be strategic.

She keeps it relatively censored on her main feed.

It's in her private messages where she sells her more explicit,

and most lucrative content.

Yeah, can I get a water, please?

What colour are you going for? Maybe, like, a red.

What do you usually wear? Me? Yeah.

I don't know. I'm really bad at making decisions.

I get a bit overwhelmed.

With her growing success,

Lauren's career choice hasn't gone unnoticed in her hometown.

Thank you. OK.

Were you quite surprised when Lauren came with a film crew?

No.

THEY LAUGH

That's so funny.

SHE CHUCKLES

What do you guys think of it?

I think I used to come in here upset and tell them about it.

Have you seen a change in her?

What was she like when she was in her old job?

I mean, to be fair, when you're getting your nails done

two times a week, like two times a month.

SHE CHUCKLES

I think that the bad thing about this job that usually you shouldn't

tell people what you're earning, but doing OnlyFans

makes you so insecure that everyone is judging you,

and they're, like, "What the fuck are you doing with your life?"

So, you can just turn around, and be, like,

"Do you know what I'm earning?"

"Stop. You have no idea."

Like, people don't know, and then when they do know, they're like...

It is insane. "Oh, wow." Like, "Oh."

And then maybe they don't want to do it,

but they get it and they understand why you do it.

I thought I was going to find this quite seedy, and I thought

I was going to find it a bit sad.

It's kind of like...

You know when people say,

"How much would someone have to pay you to do this?

"How much would someone have to pay you to do that?" It's, like,

"How much would someone have to pay you to strip

"and put it on Instagram? And...

..it turns out my price is what Lauren's earning,

so I'm setting up OnlyFans.

SHE CHUCKLES

More and more people are catching on,

But unlike its Silicon Valley rivals -

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter -

OnlyFans is British, born-and-bred.

The brains behind OnlyFans is Essex entrepreneur Tim Stokely.

He created the site in 2016.

A quick look at his Instagram account shows a guy

living an influencer's dream,

and OnlyFans reflects this aspirational image.

It's a platform that brings adult work into the social media age.

Interestingly, he's pretty elusive when it comes to giving interviews,

or talking about his business.

I'm here with Tim Stokely.

Tim, how are you, by the way?

I'm really well, thanks. It's a pleasure to be here.

But that hasn't hurt OnlyFans.

The company has over 17.5 million users worldwide.

Oh! Good girl.

24-year-old Beth is another young woman who's clocked on

to the OnlyFans phenomenon.

She's not as established as Lauren, but still earns

a healthy three grand a month

just from selling naked content.

Is this your dressing room? Yeah. It's amazing.

I want one of these.

BETH CHUCKLES

I'll show you the bra drawer.

ELLIE CHUCKLES

Oh, my God.

I've genuinely never seen this many bras in one place. Ever.

This drawer is like the OnlyFans drawer.

Oh, OK.

So, this is the drawer with, like, all the stockings in

and stuff that I'd wear.

Living in the northwest of England,

Beth has had over 20 jobs since leaving school.

If you were to get a job around here,

would it primarily be retail, or...

Yeah. ..customer service? Like, working in a pub, or something.

Yeah. I assume that's all quite low paid, or minimum wage jobs.

Yeah. They're crap. Yeah.

OK. Outside of the adult industry,

can you think of any other jobs,

in this area, where you could earn anything near that?

No, not in this area.

Unless you're chief executive, or something, in a company,

or you own a really good, like, well-run business.

Definitely none around here. 100%.

Unless you were a drug dealer.

SHE LAUGHS They probably make the same money.

Is that literally it? Like, OnlyFans, or drug dealing? Yeah.

THEY LAUGH

Beth hoped glamour modelling and Page 3 appearances

would be her ticket to financial independence.

That one's yours. Oh, thank you. Perfect.

I think it was just the whole point of being able to say,

"Oh, I've been in Page 3",