And some of the sites biggest contributors are right here in Adelaide.

If you haven’t heard of OnlyFans, you might be living under a cyber rock, but you’ll no doubt be surprised when you find out just what is turning a buck online these days.

Created in 2016, OnlyFans was originally inspired by social media influencers and was designed in a way that users could pay for premium video and photo content from their favourite celebrities.

While the platform insists it’s not all about the sex – and, granted, there are people on the site still making money without showing more than an exposed ankle – like most things on the internet, OnlyFans has become best known for its more grown-up content, giving adult and sex workers a place to sell photos and videos from their own homes.

Creators upload whatever content they decide to share and then members of the site can pay to subscribe to see the exclusive content, unavailable anywhere else.

One of OnlyFans’ biggest earners is said to be the American model and socialite Blac Chyna.

The star hit headlines a few years ago when she was dating Rob Kardashian, later giving birth to a daughter.

But the romance was short-lived and a messy break-up in 2017 saw Kardashian releasing a series of sexually explicit photos of Chyna on social media, leading to Chyna obtaining a temporary restraining order against him.

Given that kind of history, it seems like a bit of poetic justice that Chyna is now the one having the last laugh. Her OnlyFans account is said to be netting close to $US30m a month according to a recent report by Grazia magazine.

With those sort of dollars being made, it’s no wonder that OnlyFans has become such a lucrative money-spinner for those willing to show their goods to the globe and with lockdowns crippling many adult industries, but not curbing the appetite from the audience for content, many are pivoting their careers, essentially turning themselves into homemade pornstars.

Of course, the site itself is raking in the cash as well taking a 20 per cent cut of the takings from its creators, but according to them it’s all fair.

On their site, OnlyFans says: “As far as we’re concerned, if you use social media and produce your own content, you should be using OnlyFans. Whether you’re uploading tutorials, tips, behind the scenes footage or just endless selfies, a lot of your followers would be willing to pay for them.”

But it’s not just American porn stars and B list celebs who have created a fanbase online. Some of the biggest OnlyFans creators are right here in Adelaide and they have no plans on slowing down any time soon. We spoke to four of Adelaide’s hottest OnlyFans faces to share their experiences with the site in 2020.

MIKE AND HIS BANANA

Mike and His Banana has become one of the most sought-after male OnlyFans creators in Australia with his signature calling card - his banana (the fruit as well as… well, you get it.)

“When I started, I was doing my research and saw everyone just using their names and I thought ‘well, that’s boring. Everyone’s just doing the same thing,” he said.

“I was into my fitness, gym and meal prep stuff and actually had another Instagram account called Meal Prep Mike, so the banana thing came from there.

“Nutrition, health, bananas are healthy. I’ve always been unique and I like to do things differently to everybody else. I wanted people to be able to associate the banana with me, almost as a marketing tool.”

Mike joined OnlyFans earlier this year after COVID hit, but his journey to the site was a little less conventional than others.

The 27-year-old was coming to the end of a home detention sentence after a drug conviction for dealing MDMA and ecstasy and decided he wanted to find a way to be his own boss.

“I was applying for jobs and the plan was to wait until I got parole because then you aren’t required to disclose your criminal history unless they ask about it, but you obviously do when you’re on house arrest,” he said.

“I got three job offers in one week and then they all turned me down when they found out about the home detention.

“So it reinforced to me that I have value, but I shouldn’t be working for anyone else.”

It was then that an ex-girlfriend introduced him to OnlyFans. At first Mike took baby-steps with his content, but soon he became aware that the more of his life (and his body) that he was willing to share, the more people would respond.

“In the beginning I was a little more conservative, I wasn’t showing my face in the more explicit content,” Mike said.

While his account shows Mike doing most of the standard things you’d expect to see- there’s videos and photos of him engaged in various acts of a sexual nature, Mike said that it’s surprising to see which of his posts do get the most attention. Some of his most engaging content sees him revealing deeply personal matters about his own life.

“There’s a 30 minute podcast of me sharing my story about how I overcame adversity in prison and continued to persevere on home detention despite being rejected by employers that got a lot of attention,” he said.
“I wanted to share my story because when I spoke to people I found that they were in a bit of a rut. I wanted to be living proof that no matter what mistakes you’ve made in life, you can always come back. There is always a second chance in life”

With a background in video editing and sales, as well as having studied business and social media marketing along with the 40 or so books he read on psychology in prison; Mike has been mostly attracted to the marketing aspect of OnlyFans, not only growing his own page in a short amount of time, but also sharing that wisdom with creators in Adelaide and Australia and around the world. He recently started his own agency and digital marketing company Xentrik Management with business partner Gerard Lewis and the two currently have 20 clients with some making up to $15,000 a week through the site.

MONTANA DANIEL

Montana Daniel” is one of the newer Adelaide faces on the OnlyFans scene. A tattooist by day, her more than 16,000 followers on Instagram are now being converted to cold hard cash through OnlyFans.

The tattooed and buxom brunette’s account is probably one of the more tame of the our Adelaide models, she rarely shows more than her exposed chest, but the fans are still lapping up the content she provides in their thousands.

But does her online life ever come into conflict with her life offline.

“Not at all,” she said.

“My fiancé is OK with it and actually helps me with content.”

Montana admits that it’s a career move that might not be for everyone, but she says she enjoys being the one in control of what gets shown and what doesn’t.

“It’s empowering,” she said.

But when asked what she would say to the people who have a problem with her new career, she has just one question in return.

“But, are they rich?”

JACKSON STEEL

Jackson Steel started his OnlyFans account in June after deciding he had enough of working in his FIFO job,

“Before that I was working in solar farming and was away all the time operating big machinery,” he said.

“I just decided that I didn’t want to do contract work in the desert any more and I had done some stripping in the past, so this just sounded like the next step.”

While most of the content he creates is done at home, Jackson also invests in hiring photographers and videographers to enhance his offerings.

Jackson collaborates with Mike and His Banana (see above) and says most of the users who subscribe to his channel are men. While Jackson doesn’t identify as gay in his private life, the requests for male-on-male content are what he gets the most.

“You do interact with people on OnlyFans, they can message you and you can message back, so you work out what they want to see pretty fast,” Jackson said.

“It’s definitely made me more open to what I’m willing to do on camera. I have pushed the boundaries. Not a lot is off-limits”

But sometimes it’s the more innocent content that will illicit a reaction.

“One of the most popular videos we’ve done is of me and Jackson having a pillow fight in our underwear set to classical music,” Mike added.

“So you never really know what is going to get a reaction until it’s uploaded.”

However that’s not to say that there isn’t a huge difference in the way male and female creators are viewed and reacted to on OnlyFans.

“I would say it’s pretty similar to any kind of adult industry,” Jackson said. “Generally the guys need to do and show a lot more for the kind money that the girls can make and the girls can usually get away with showing less.

“After all, most of the audience who are willing to pay are males, so while I would get a lot of gay and questioning guys, the girls are going to have a very different experience.”

SHORTIII

‘Shortiii’ had been working as a personal fitness trainer with a solid client base when COVID struck in early 2020. So when business took a hit, she needed a new way of making a steady income stream and so she decided to try a new way of working up a sweat.

“Obviously business slowed down when COVID hit, so this became a bit of a side hustle,” Shortiii said.

While others are looking to make OnlyFans a full time career, Shortiii said she can’t see herself quitting her fitness career, but is enjoying the extra cash OnlyFans brings in. 


But while some of the content on her own page might be a little confronting for some- there’s images of Shortiii with guys, girls, multiple girls, whips and ropes- she says it’s all part of the illusion.

“It is still a bit of a performance,” she said.

“It’s totally different to the way you would have sex in your private life. It’s still enjoyable work, but it doesn’t compare to what we do off camera.”