Former Skins star turned OnlyFans model Megan Prescott says 'she was not prepared' for sex scenes at 16

Former Skins star Megan Prescott has opened up about the trials and tribulations of starring in the hit series as a teenager.

The actress turned adult content creator was just 16-years-old when she joined the cast of the hit E4 show as 'Katie f***ing Fitch' alongside her twin sister Kathryn.

The sisters starred in the second generation of Skins alongside the likes of Jack O'Connell, Kaya Scodelario, Luca Pasqualino and Ollie Barbieri.

And as anyone who tuned in will remember, their characters lives largely revolved around getting high, hooking up with one another and throwing wild house parties.

Prescott told LADbible that she and her ready-made sidekick Kathryn were 'beside themselves' when they waltzed onto our screens with striking red hair back in 2009.

"It was my favourite show and it felt like a dream come true to be in it," the 34-year-old said. "We were having a whale of a time."

But there was a darker side to the teen drama too, as the writers didn't shy away from controversial storylines which reflected the raw realities of what life was like for a typical teenager in the UK.

Substance abuse, sexuality, teenage pregnancy, eating disorders, and mental illness were all on the table - and sex scenes were also a regular occurrence.

Megan and Kathryn Prescott were just 16 when they were cast in Skins as the Fitch sisters (Channel 4)

April Pearson, who played Michelle Richardson, previously spoke out about a 'f***ed up experience' she had when shooting intimate moments, while her co-star Nicholas Hoult who portrayed Tony Stonem also described it as 'weird'.

Scodelario, who starred as Effy Stonem, previously alleged that 'the safeguarding wasn't there' during filming, while O'Connell, who played James Cook, also formerly admitted he felt 'compromised' while shooting sex scenes.

In hindsight, Prescott says she realises she 'wasn't fully prepared' for the reality of being on TV at such a tender age - or how 'uncomfortable' some aspects of being a Skins star would make her.

She believes the BAFTA-winning show 'wouldn't be made' in this day and age and has now revealed what she thinks of the protections - or lack thereof - that were in place for the adolescent cast.

Speaking to LADbible ahead of the return of her one-woman show, Really Good Exposure, to Soho Theatre, Prescott said: "I think the beauty of Skins was that it was real people, playing real teenagers.

"Having real teenagers was what made the show so relatable and so successful. But it was new territory. Most [teen] shows before that, those people were grown adults - they just looked young.

"I imagine there was a lot of trial and error and by today's standards, [Skins] wouldn't be made. Intimacy coordinators didn't even exist then, it wasn't even a thing.

"There were lots of scenes where I was really uncomfortable at the time, because I was insecure about my body.

"Looking back, there really should have been some version of an intimacy coordinator, even if it didn't exist, to navigate [the sex scenes]. We didn't know what the hell we were doing."

The creative, 34, reckons the hit series wouldn't be made today because of its contents (Instagram/@megartron)

Prescott - who became a stripper aged 22 to help fund her creative work before later launching her OnlyFans career - said she and her cast mates 'just desperately wanted to be on the show'.

"We would have said yes to quite a lot of things," the writer, director and actor said.

In retrospect, Prescott believes that there 'should have been a lot more protections put in place' for the teen actors starring in the 'highly-sexualised' show.

"But I’m tentative to blame Skins entirely, because the culture at the time - and still to some degree now - was not good enough," the London-born star added. "I'm really grateful to be on the show. It felt like a dream come true to be in it.

"But as any teenager - especially a teenage girl - will probably relate, being really insecure about your body and then having that on television is something that no one really tells you about before it's on TV.

"You get the part, and you're like, brilliant," Megan continued. "And then when it's out, you're like, 'Oh yeah, my body and my whole life is now on display for the world'.

"I don't think I was fully prepared for that. It was a bit of a jump scare."

Prescott feels much more comfortable in her own skin these days and now sells sexy snaps of herself online - as, according to the actress, it's much easier than stripping off for a sex scene on set.

"When I've done OnlyFans, I've been in total control at every step of the way," she told LADbible. "I would be much more nervous to do a sex scene on TV or in a film, because I know it's not me who's editing it, it's not me who's lighting it, it's not me who's choosing when to post it. It's very little control that I have. Whereas on OnlyFans, if I don't like the footage, once I've shot it, I can delete it. I have all the control."

Prescott's theatre production Really Good Exposure is 'loosely' based on her life (Instagram/@megartron)

Still, Prescott has been channelling 'Katie f***ing Fitch' as of late - red hair and all - as she returns to the stage for the grand return of her one-woman show, Really Good Exposure.

"It’s loosely based on my life, everything in each scene I can relate to in some way," the actress told LADbible of the production which tells the story of a child star who is on the scrap heap and considering venturing into the porn industry.

"I wanted to put it in the most simple and obvious way as possible, how hypocritical it is how we treat women based on what they choose to do with their body," Prescott said.

"There’s things about society that we don’t like, but the answer to that is not to penalise people for doing what makes the most sense at the time.

"Me working at a Wetherspoons for £6 an hour vs going to work at a strip club and earning £200 a night…that made most sense. And that’s the only reason that I’ve been able to continue my creative work."

Prescott explained she funded the award-winning run of Really Good Exposure at Edinburgh Fringe last year by flogging her 'first ever full nudes on OnlyFans with her face in'.

"Which I was always terrified to do," she added. "People will still be like, 'It’s such a shame that she feels like she needs to sell nudes to fund her work’.

"And I’m like no, the shame is that I can’t make a living wage doing creative work. That’s the issue that we should be trying to change."

Really Good Exposure returns for a two week run at London's Soho Theatre from 2 September to 13 September. You can check out more details here.