Annie Knight was among thousands of women whose life was irrevocably changed when OnlyFans exploded during the pandemic.
She was working in marketing for a shopping centre at the time, collecting a small salary and still living at home, when she was struck off for posting lewd content online.
Despite this setback, Annie is today one of the most successful content creators in the world, bringing in as much as £1.2million a year, and the proud owner of three lavish homes across Australia worth a combined £1.45 million.
Her secret? An incredibly candid public presence offering insight into her world as she embarks on various sexual challenges unimaginable for most of us – and at times even provoking comments she may have made it all up.
In her latest stunt, ‘Australia’s most promiscuous woman’ aims to sleep with 600 people in 2024 – a task she has painstakingly documented in update videos after hitting her target of 365 last year.
But things have not always been just so for Annie. The 27-year-old also says her success has been built on a troubled upbringing, being bullied at school over her weight and developing an eating disorder before finally finding confidence in how she looks.
Annie Knight was collecting £30,000p/a in marketing before making the jump to OnlyFans
She says she has the support of her parents behind her and is now confident in her image
Annie revealed she once dreamed of becoming a brain surgeon. She also shared this throwback-picture of herself attending her high school graduation with her father in 2013
Annie impulsively bought herself a third home worth $1.4million (£716,000) AUS in August
It was the third home she has bought, having been stuck living at home until the switch
Annie Knight made international headlines with her audacious bid to sleep with 600 men this year.
‘It’s just become a challenge for myself more than anything, and it’s just a bit of fun,’ the Melbourne-based model told The Edge last week, revealing she was still on course with more than 400 new notches on the bed posts and four months to go.
She says she is ‘exhausted’ at times and staggers her challenge in calculated sprints – sleeping with several men in one day before taking a period of rest.
‘Some days I might sleep with five people and then the next few days I won’t sleep with anyone, because I do get tired, it is exhausting and some days I don’t want sex,’ she told Edge Breakfast.
And to see her over the finish line, she admits she has dropped her standards at times – and introduced an application form to find eager aides able to help her in her quest.
The application questions for Annie challenge include standard details such as name and email address, as well as location.
But Annie’s prospective partners are also asked if they are willing to be tested for any potential sexually transmitted infections (STIs) before doing the deed, demonstrating the model’s commitment to health and safety.
It is not the first time the X-rated content creator has gone above and beyond to make her name and rake in a fortune, however.
Last year, Annie set herself the arduous task of sleeping with 365 people in the space of a year – a task she said she fulfilled.
She has documented her challenges in short videos shared on social media, branding herself ‘that girl who tells crazy stories’.
The stories are crazy. In May 2024, she posted on Instagram to tell fans she was preparing for a new personal best by sleeping with seven people in one night, surpassing her record of six hit the night before.
Not all believe them. Some fans started to question the wild stories she shares online after she claimed she had slept with her Uber driver after a night out in June.
Followers flocked to the comments to call her out for the claims. Annie told Daily Mail Australia her critics are only jealous because they ‘lead such boring lives’.
‘We were chatting the whole way until I got home. When we arrived at my home, we just kept talking,’ she said.
‘He was getting requests on his Uber thing and he was just declining them, which I don’t even know if you’re allowed to do that.
‘Then one thing led to the other and before I knew it I was in the back seat.’
Some believed she had simply recycled an ‘old’ story, writing: ‘Hasn’t this been posted before?’
Despite the accusations, Annie stood firm and told Daily Mail Australia she has never lied about the sex stories she posts online.
Annie is candid, often vulgar in her telling of events, but has won a large audience from her openness in sharing a fairly unique perspective on sex.
Things were not always this way. Annie told realestate.com.au that she had to keep her side hustle ‘on the down low’ when she started in 2020, during the pandemic.
It was her bid to get on the property ladder that drove her towards OnlyFans – as fanciful stories emerged of women getting unimaginably rich overnight.
The lockdowns gave millions time – and, vitally, money they weren’t spending out – to experiment with the site, and between 2019 and 2020 alone, OnlyFans saw a hike in users from 13.5 million to 82.3 million.
At the time, Annie – who once dreamed of being a brain surgeon – was earning $60,000 AUS (£30,000) in her marketing job and still living at home.
She said she found the job ‘depressing’ and said she ‘hated being told what to do’.
‘Even when I was in school I said I wanted to be my own boss. Sure enough, when I went into the corporate world I was just so depressed. There were so many rules and restrictions,’ she told realestate.com.au
‘When I left I had so much freedom, not just financially, but to be able to travel whenever I wanted and be in control of how much I could earn.’
Annie said her dream was to move out and buy her own property – but ‘with each year that went past houses got more expensive and it became harder and harder to reach that goal’.
OnlyFans changed everything. Annie said her monthly earnings climbed from $10,000 AUS (£5,108) to $200,000 (£102,000) after she went public.
$2.4million for the entire year works out around £1.23million.
In 2023, Annie bought and renovated a beautiful three-bedroom home on Australia’s Gold Coast that set her back $750,000 (£384,000).
And at the start of this year, she was able to buy a second property – another three-bedroom house worth $695,000 (£355,000) to be rented out as an investment property.
She then made the ‘best impulse buy ever’ when she spent $1.4million on a stylish Queensland property.
In a recent TikTok video, she showed she had paid $592,122.30 AUS in tax (£303,000) – more than many brain surgeons in Australia, paid around $600,000.
Annie is careful with her money, she insists, telling Yahoo Lifestyle that she hopes anyone inspired by her journey would avoid ‘blowing’ the money on ‘things like luxury bags and superficial items’.
‘You never know when the money is going to stop rolling in so it’s important that you start saving from the beginning.’
Annie said her monthly earnings climbed from £5,108 to £102,000 after she went public
Annie revealed she pays nearly $600,000 AUS (£307,000) in taxes on TikTok
She recently introduced an application form to find eager aides able to help her in her quest
Annie ‘hated being told what to do’ in her old job before switching to OnlyFans
It was her bid to get on the property ladder that drove her towards OnlyFans – as fanciful stories emerged of women getting unimaginably rich overnight
Annie said her dream was to move out and buy her own property – but ‘with each year that went past houses got more expensive and it became harder and harder to reach that goal’
Annie has dealt with fame and fortune well. But her lifestyle was radically different from what she had known before.
She revealed earlier this year that she had never had ‘much of a dating life’ in the past.
‘I used to go on about three dates a year, so that’s why I want to do this,’ she said of her challenge.
‘I’ve never been much of a dater, so I wanted to give myself an incentive and am holding myself accountable by posting the reviews of the dates online.
Growing up, Annie had battled issues with her self-confidence and body image after being subjected to a cruel exam in secondary school, aged 11.
‘I was already quite depressed from being badly bullied,’ she told the Star. ‘For some reason the teacher weighed us, and had us line up from lightest to heaviest.
‘I was the second heaviest in the class.’
Ashamed, she said she cut her meals in half and began quickly losing weight.
‘My family were worried because I was so sick. But the kids at school wanted to be friends with me because I was suddenly thin.’
The cruelty of other children put Annie on a path of intermittent relapse and recovery as she ‘stressed’ over her weight.
Annie said she suffered from an eating disorder for 12 years before learning to control her illness.
When she started OnlyFans in 2020, things turned around. People started complimenting her, and she became more positive about how she looked.
‘Even though I was 10 kilos heavier than at the height of my eating disorder, suddenly I was getting messages from strangers online telling me how beautiful I look, that I am perfect!’ she said.
At first I didn’t believe it, but then I watched my videos back, and was like ‘Hey, I actually look really good.’
‘I just feel so empowered and realise how unique we all are.’
Now, she realises ‘my weight doesn’t reflect anything about my character and value as an individual.
‘I wish I could go back and tell young Annie that, to save myself and loved ones a lot of heartache.’
She added she hopes to break the stigma around women enjoying casual sex.
‘I literally behave the same way as a lot of men out there in the world, but I’m judged for what I do. It’s ridiculous,’ added Annie.
Annie’s parents know what she does for work and stand by her.
She told the Star her mother messages daily to say how proud she is of Annie for living ‘authentically and not caring what anyone thinks’.
She said her father was shocked to find out, but that an honest conversation cleared things up and ‘he was okay with it, he’s very supportive’.
Selling content allowed Annie to purchase her first house – and then a second, and a third
She admitted she was nervous about who would see her adult content when she joined the popular subscription platform, but never imagined she’d be sacked for the X-rated extra cash
Annie says she began getting her confidence up after starting on OnlyFans
During an appearance on The Kyle and Jackie O Show, she stunned the hosts when she revealed she’d slept with 300 men and women in a single year
Annie said she suffered from an eating disorder for 12 yrs before learning to control her illness
Annie is happy with her decision and grateful for the backing of her parents, she says
Annie lives a life today she could never have dreamed of just four years ago. Beyond the houses, the money and brushing shoulders with Aussie elites at prestigious events, she is glad to be confident and healthy with the backing of her parents.
Selling content online has proved a lifeline for thousands of people turning away from the monotony of a nine-til-five each year. For some, it works – and models report being happy with their new lives.
But experiences vary widely. Others, graduating from sharing bikini photos with friends on Instagram to selling porn online, say they still feel ‘traumatised’ by ‘the most miserable years of my life’.
One woman told Business Insider that despite the huge sums of money, they felt objectified, alienated family and friends, and spent hours curating a careful façade for subscribers around a relentless schedule.
Psychologists say creating sexually explicit content could leave people feeling lonelier and more likely to suffer mental health issues. A popular Twitch streamer spoke out on his OnlyFans past in August, saying he had considered taking his own life after getting involved in making videos while in a dark place.
And children as young as 13 have reported being ‘depressed and suicidal’ after photos of their parents circulated the school yard.
Selling explicit content online remains a divisive issue, with many like Annie empowered to live richer lives by finding creative niches in the market. But for others, fortune comes at the expense of something far more important.
If you would like help for an eating disorder, you can contact Beating Eating Disorders on 0808 801 0677 in England, or via their website.
If you are in need of urgent help or medical advice for yourself or someone else please contact 999 or the Samaritans on 116 123 if you or someone else is in immediate danger.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk