On set of MAFS star ‘shocking’ Hayley Vernon’s OnlyFans shoot

Gruen and Mirror Mirror star Todd Sampson tries not to pass judgement on those he works with, but admits this was difficult during his latest project about the porn industry.

Ever since he walked away from the advertising industry to focus on documentary filmmaking, Todd Sampson has positioned himself as someone who doesn’t pass judgement on his subjects.

But he admits there was a moment during the making of his new Network 10 series Mirror Mirror – which explores the societal crisis of body-image dissatisfaction – that tested his resolve.

It happened when Sampson attended a photo shoot that featured former Married At First Sight star Hayley Vernon, who was producing content for the adult website OnlyFans.

Married At First Sight star Hayley Vernon (front), who features in Todd Sampson’s new series Mirror Mirror. (Picture: Supplied)

“We had to cut a lot out of the documentary because it can’t be shown on the 7.30pm timeslot on television.” (Picture: Supplied)

Sampson, who had never seen Vernon on the reality show, was under the assumption that OnlyFans pages simply featured heavily sexualised images.

“But basically,” he tells Stellar On Friday, “I was watching her have sex with men and then watched her in a photo shoot with a woman. All the while she’s incredibly likeable, so it was disarming.”

Ultimately, he adds, “We had to cut a lot out of the documentary because it can’t be shown on the 7.30pm timeslot on television.”

But it’s clear that what stayed in the show still made Sampson feel uncomfortable.

“I see myself as someone who has my own struggles with body image so I try to see everything through my subjects’ eyes; I see myself as someone telling a person’s story, not interpreting it,” he explains.

Find more exclusives in this Sunday’s Stellar.

“But sometimes there comes a time when you have to challenge a moment. And when Hayley was trying to explain about female empowerment [while filming porn], I was like, ‘Really?’”

Sampson adds that while the whole experience wasbizarre, his daughters Coco, 14, and Jet, 12, weren’t remotely shocked when he reported back.

“My kids saw nothing abnormal in it,” he explains.

“They’re so used to seeing sexualised images everywhere that soft porn is normal – which is the main point of the show. It’s important that we swim in the same water as our kids... and I was in that water.”

Todd Sampson’s Mirror Mirror starts this Wednesday and continues on Thursday at 7.30pm on Network 10 and 10 Play on demand.

Originally published as On set of MAFS star ‘shocking’ Hayley Vernon’s OnlyFans shoot