Two much-hyped TV dramas are currently exploring the life of an OnlyFans model. Here's what it's really like

The new season of HBO's Euphoria, and Apple TV's series Margo's got Money Troubles, both feature lead characters who are adult content creators. But they don't tell the whole story.

Sex workers have long been narrative fodder for TV shows, from The Secret Diary of a Call Girl and Harlots to The Deuce and The Girlfriend Experience. But with the rise of social media, a new 21st-Century variant has come into play, adult content creators in the form of the OnlyFans model, and a slew of series are beginning to grapple with the ups and downs of that career choice, producing and uploading pornographic material for paying subscribers.

HBO/BBC drama Industry saw hotshot young financier Sweetpea Golightly (Miriam Petche) engage in an OnlyFans-inspired side hustle in its third series, while the much-hyped, returning Euphoria has introduced an OnlyFans storyline via Sydney Sweeney's Cassie, who joins it to help pay for her expensive wedding. 

And the platform is central to Apple TV 's new comedy-drama Margo's Got Money Troubles, based on Rufi Thorpe's 2024 novel of the same name. It offers what director Kate Herron describes as a "helpful" exploration of OnlyFans through the story of a college dropout (Elle Fanning) who signs up because she has a baby to care for and is struggling to make ends meet.

"Some of our audience will know about the website, but some won't," Herron, who directed episodes three and four, tells the BBC. "They're going into it, seeing someone who decides 'I am going to make content for the website', but also the reasons why."

These TV shows are wrestling with the complexities of undertaking this career, inviting audiences to learn what might make these female characters make these choices. "There's so much happening in terms of what it means to be a woman, and how you can be a woman," says Herron. "People aren't simple."

Euphoria has been criticised for what some viewers describe as a degrading portrayal of Cassie's sexually provocative efforts. Margo's Got Money Troubles, however, takes a more empathetic approach to its female lead's OnlyFans journey, engaging from a position of depth to challenge perceptions around the reality of being a performer. "That was always in the back of my mind," says Heron. "Wanting to present everyone who uses the website, with respect and integrity."

Founded in 2016, OnlyFans is an online subscription-based video-on-demand service originally intended to connect musicians and influencers with their fanbase. In 2017, however, it lifted its pornography ban. While it still features all kinds of people, from fitness trainers to chefs, it is adult content creators, both part and full-time, that have driven its growth. During the Covid-19 pandemic, between March and April 2020, OnlyFans experienced a 75% increase in new creator registrations, with people flocking to the platform to monetise themselves during a recession.

However, with its rapid rise has come several controversies: last year OnlyFans' parent company was fined just over £1m (£742,495) by UK media regulatory Ofcom for giving inaccurate information about its age-verification checks, while in 2021 BBC News reported that it was failing to prevent underage users from selling and appearing in explicit videos. When interviewed by the BBC in 2022, the company said it had taken firm action following the reports and transformed the platform into the safest social media site in the world. 

Why people are becoming performers   

As demonstrated by these series' contrasting storylines, OnlyFans models' motivations for signing up are varied. In Margo's Got Money Troubles, Fanning's eponymous lead resorts to the platform after her baby's father, her college professor, refuses to be involved, and she loses her waitressing job. Looking for conventional work proves fruitless, so she sets up an account under the pseudonym "The Hungry Ghost". Money floods in as she offers male fans pithy reviews of their penises and creative nude videos shot by her roommate Susie (Thaddea Graham).

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