‘I’ve always kind of leant into the attention’: Meet TikTok sensation Pottery Boy
With 1.6 million followers, Guy Vadas – AKA Pottery Boy – has, like Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze before him in 90s film Ghost, put a sexy new spin on the art form. Here, he explains why.
Stellar
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stellar. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Even though the 1990 film Ghost was released eight years before he was born, Guy Vadas – aka Pottery Boy – admits he’s watched the romantic thriller “many times”.
The ceramicist understands the deep fascination that people have with its most iconic scene, when Demi Moore and the late Patrick Swayze sit together at a pottery wheel, hands intertwined atop wet clay, while the ballad ‘Unchained Melody’ plays in the background.
“I like to call it a ‘Ghost fantasy’, which a lot of people do have,” the 26-year-old tells Stellar with a laugh.
“I haven’t actually filled that fantasy with anyone yet … I have been asked [to] many times though.”
With 1.6 million followers on TikTok and 222K on Instagram, Vadas has become somewhat of a poster boy for pottery.
About six years ago, he attended his first class “at a little old lady’s house” surrounded by elderly pottery enthusiasts – and it was love at first touch. Eager to learn more, he sought out studios to continue his lessons but most of the options were, as he puts it, “old-school, very clinical, not my sort of vibe”.
So he started his own studio, Céramiques, which has now opened in three locations, two in Melbourne and one in nearby Geelong.
“When I first started, pottery was a cathartic, meditative process for me. It allowed me space to Zen out for a little bit and I just got so addicted to that,” he says.
“Then, all of a sudden, there were all these people who wanted to come and do that with me. Next thing you know, we’ve opened a few spaces where you can do that.”
While the social media star credits TikTok with helping to make pottery popular among Gen Z and Millennials, he says it was after watching the videos of another pottery content creator, Melbourne artist Silk Cartwright, go viral that he said to himself, “F*ck, I better get onto TikTok.”
“I posted maybe 10 or 15 videos of me making pottery and then, all of a sudden, one did really well and after that it kind of just steadily grew,” Vadas recalls.
“It’s a wild world, TikTok. It’s very fun. Everyone has always been so supportive and positive, which is really great because I’ve seen other creators who maybe haven’t been supported in that same way. So it’s nice that everyone gets around me.”
Many of his followers have expressed an appreciation of Vadas himself, rather than his pottery, and he laughs at the idea of him being the object of Ghost-style fantasies.
“I’ve always kind of leant into the attention – I’ve never shied away from that. A lot of the time, people in my comment section are like, ‘Don’t sexualise him, don’t do this, don’t do that.’ I just want people to have a good time. I don’t take any of that stuff personally or get offended by any of it.
“The coolest thing about sharing [my content online] is allowing people to feel something, and whether they smile or whether they get a little excited, I’m up for all of it. I don’t take myself too seriously, you know? I’m not out here trying to be the world’s best artist.”
Vadas’ social media-fuelled popularity has allowed him to pursue another creative outlet.
He has relocated from Melbourne to Sydney to study performance, and signed with an acting agent.
Years ago, at 19, Vadas had moved to Sydney to become a model. “That didn’t work at all,” he admits, “and I ended up going back home.” He’s determined things will be different this time.
“Learning about myself over the years has allowed me to feel more comfortable in front of the camera. That was something I really lacked when I was modelling back in the day,” he tells Stellar.
“Acting is one of the things that’s on my list for the next year or two. I’d love to do something in the drama space. I’m excited about experiencing and working with characters I haven’t had a chance to experience in my life.”
Read the full interview and see the shoot with Pottery Boy in the latest issue of Stellar. For more from Stellar, click here.
More Coverage
Originally published as ‘I’ve always kind of leant into the attention’: Meet TikTok sensation Pottery Boy
Why Sienna Miller ‘doesn’t want to be a movie star’
As one of Hollywood’s most stylish celebrities, Sienna Miller is used to the spotlight. But in recent years, the 42-year-old British actor confesses, she is much less interested in fame.
Read more
‘I couldn’t breathe’: Mollie O reveals anxiety attack before gold medal
Mollie O’Callaghan has sometimes struggled in the spotlight as an Australian swimming superstar. Now, she has revealed what really happened at the Paris Olympics – and the anxiety that overwhelmed her.
Read more