Several adult industry actors revealed their reasons for becoming an adult entertainer - and it's not all about the money.
That's not to say that the money isn't there, however, as according to The Business Research Company's findings, the porn industry has experienced a meteoric growth in its market value, estimated to be worth around £53 billion as of 2025.
And it's only going to get bigger, with a further estimate of $75 billion expected to be reached in 2029.
Over the past few years, the landscape of the porn industry has also changed, with platforms such as OnlyFans and Fansly seeing thousands of adult entertainment stars across the globe making content to post on their sites for their subscribers.
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But what really compels porn stars to start working in the adult entertainment business?
Surprisingly, it isn't just the wage because some people just really enjoy sex. Take Georgia Jones for example. She claimed in a Wood Rocket video from 2017 that she was ‘born to be naked on camera’.
Meanwhile, Bliss Dulce said that she started acting because was just plain ‘sl*tty’ - her words, not mine.
“I spent all my off time from my job on weekends going to swinger parties, arranging to be gang banged, and I was really just living for the weekend,” said Riley Ray, a self-described ‘sl*t hobbyist’ who became a ‘sl*t professional’.
"And I thought, 'How can I make this weekend my living?' And it turns out the answer was porn.”
Alana Evans, who was also a swinger, said she 'loves sex' so that's what drew her to the business - that, and all 'the d**k''.
Meanwhile Chad Alva, a male porn star, said he initially joined the adult industry because he was ‘always a little porn freak’.
“I was always watching it, and after a few years I just had this weird feeling and urge,” he continued. "Like, 'Why doesn't anyone else in this town want to do porn when they grow up?'”
Jenny, who spoke to the Financial Diet in 2018, said she’d got into porn because she’d been a ‘naturally open person my whole life, and someone who just…really enjoys sex’.
“I think when I realised that it [sex] was something I could make money from, I figured, well, why not give it a try, you know? So when I turned 18, I started submitting my photos to [adult] modelling sites, and eventually, someone noticed me and asked if I’d come to LA to shoot a sex scene with an already established male performer,” she told the outlet.
“It sounds totally crazy, but within two weeks of that happening, I was on a one-way flight from Florida to LAX.”
And while lots of adult film stars say it isn't about the wonga, an article published in the International Journal of Sexual Health in 2012 would suggest otherwise.
It was reported that 53 percent of porn actresses who'd answered a survey listed money as the main reason for getting into porn.
Even in Wood Rocket's video, a few porn stars, like Cassandra Cain and Aubrey Sinclair, said it was the money. But how much are porn stars realistically making, and is it as lucrative as the industry would have you believe?
According to an interview conducted with various porn stars by Vice, one was raking in €1,070 (£915) per scene while another claimed it was ‘rare’ if they received ‘over €500 (£430) a scene’.
Meanwhile, a third, known as Franco Roccaforte, said he would ‘never go below €1,000 (£855)’ when it came to acting.
Well, the more you know, right?
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Adult Industry, Money, Lifestyle, Business
Ella Scott