A Game of Thrones actress has revealed how postponing a law degree to star in porn has helped her to overcome her negative body issues.
Porn star Ella Hughes – who has nearly 200,000 social media followers across Twitter and Instagram and starred in the smash hit Sky HBO series as a prostitute – now earns money by having sex on screen, performing live stripteases on webcams, and selling her dirty lingerie to fans.
But as a young teen she hated the way she looked, felt overweight and was cripplingly shy.
It was only when the 22-year-old, from Southampton, began stripping onscreen that she found her confidence: ‘Before I got into porn I was a very shy girl, I didn’t even talk to someone on the phone.
‘I hated the sound of my own voice and never thought I was pretty enough.
‘I struggled a lot with weight issues. I never thought in a million years I would be capable of doing something like this,’ she says in an episode of the BBC Three series Sex Map of Britain, called A Career in Porn.
Ella Hughes has amassed a huge following on social media, she uses the platform to market herself and boost her profile by posting raunchy selfies
Ella decided to postpone her law degree in order to pursue a career in porn, which has helped her body confidence issues
The series plots a course around the UK to meet those for whom sex, sexuality, and starting a family is less than straightforward.
Ella explains: ‘It wasn’t my original intention to get into porn, my original intention was to do a law degree.
‘I’m halfway through that, I have postponed that for now. I did a stint doing lads’ mags, then it kind of progressed from one into the other.
‘My love for my job conquers all critics’
But the former student isn’t ashamed of her time-consuming career, instead, she says her critics fuel her fire.
‘For me I almost kind of don’t care, because my love for my job kind of outweighs them, it conquers all.’
Ella dreams of eventually owning her own creative company and being able to direct her own porn film, and says she’s keen to get it set up before she enters ‘MILF’ territory.
She acknowledges that there are drawbacks to working in the porn industry.
Ella explains how she gets sent hate mail and will often get labelled a w****, a s*** or a prostitute – or accused of being riddled with STIs.
Ella has been seen on the red carpet at film screenings and also appeared on Game of Thrones as a Volantene prostitute in the sixth series
The porn star’s followers on social media are always game to spend money on her and Ella says that her career has flourished down to her business acumen
Savvy businesswoman
Ella points out the nasty names are far from the truth, describing herself as a savvy businesswoman who has learned to market herself using social media – with the help of raunchy, flesh-baring lingerie selfies.
As a result she has amassed thousands of followers, who will pay simply to hear her utter a few sexy sentences, or flash her breasts on a webcam.
‘I guess you get these feminists that will say that I am not fully in control, there is always going to be a man there telling me what I can and can’t do looking over my shoulder.
‘But at the end of the day I am a businesswoman, I am my own company and if that’s not power to women then what is?’
Sex Map of Britain: A Career in Porn is available to watch on BBC Three iPlayer now