Top adult star Riley Reid explains unique way she became number one star in the industry

A top adult star has opened up on the simple way she became number one star in the industry.

Riley Reid remains one of the adult industry's biggest stars after she became the most searched-for performer on PornHub back in 2017.

At the time of writing, the 33-year-old remains in their top 10 most popular list at number seven, despite recently admitting that she ‘doesn’t love’ shooting pornographic content anymore.

The pornstar, 33, started performing in the adult industry when she was 19 (Instagram/@letrileylive)

In an appearance on the Shadow Banned podcast in April, Reid – real name Ashley Mathews – said that getting married to Pasha Petkuns in 2021 and becoming a parent in 2022 changed her thinking.

She said: "It's been really fun, it's definitely been a different identity process of me trying to figure out who this new version of myself is.

"And so like I remember having my identity crisis when I was in porn, being like 'who am I?' and like 'what is this?'.

Reid is one of the most well-known faces in the adult industry (Instagram/@letrileylive)

"And so now I'm trying to renavigate myself within, trying to parent as well as be like a business person and so that's been really interesting."

Riley explained: "Yeah, as well as like trying to adapt to the adult world because, to be honest, I don't love shooting content now that I have like a c-section scar cos it puts like a date and a time stamp."

Elsewhere in the podcast, host Jackson O'Doherty was asking Reid how she became the biggest porn actor on the planet.

Giving a simple explanation, Reid said: "I think it's just like I'm relatable and I smile in my videos."

She went on to share that her performances generally aren't too serious-looking and that being natural goes a long way.

Meanwhile, Reid has previously issued a warning to those thinking about entering the adult film industry.

In a now-deleted video on her YouTube channel in 2020, she said: “A lot of times when people ask me if they should do porn, I tell them no."

The actor said there was a cost to her personal life and relationships.

“I tell them that it makes life really hard, it makes dating really hard, it makes your family life really hard, it makes intimacy hard,” Reid added.

“If you're putting yourself out there and the world is now judging you, you have to be OK with being shamed every day of your life.

“I don't even want to have children because I do porn, because I'm worried [about] the way that people will treat my child.”