“We’re just not as close as we used to be – I want to talk to her, but I don’t know how.” It was a Tuesday morning, and this was the first in a slew of messages popping up on my screen as soon as I opened my laptop. I penned a kind but professional reply about how to gently approach the issue based on all the information I knew about this particular couple. I was starting a day’s work, not as a therapist, but as an OnlyFans creator.
I joined the platform in 2024 after quitting my job at a big newspaper because of a militant boss. I quickly went from living the dream in the New York office to moving back to London and entering survival mode in a cost-of-living crisis without any savings or income. I spent months in a futile job hunt by day, and working in a bar by night. After another day of sending applications, I thought I might as well try my hand at OnlyFans.
I’d always been confident both physically and sexually, and had briefly tried the app before (which allows users to share and buy exclusive, mostly adult or pornographic, content). I was excited to see what it had in store. I expected it to be glamorous photoshoots in expensive lingerie, and risqué text exchanges with single men. It turned out that most of my work involved speaking to men with wives or girlfriends about their relationship woes.
