Former child star Megan Prescott has revealed her experience as a sex worker inspired her new one-woman show: Really Good Exposure.
The actress, 34, soared to fame at the age of 16 when she and her twin sister Kathryn landed the roles of Katie and Emily Finch on E4 drama Skins.
Megan, who started out in the industry at the age of 14, went on to land roles in Silent Witness, Holby City and several short films but when the pandemic hit and work dried up, she turned to OnlyFans to supplement her income.
In an exclusive chat with Daily Mail, Megan revealed she made the same amount on the X-rated site in a week than she did in a month working odd jobs.
Having also worked as a stripper, she explained that her experience in the sex industry helped her pen her new play – which will debut in London next week after an award-winning run at Edinburgh Fringe last year.
Megan stars as Molly in the show – a child star who is considering getting into the porn industry after being dumped by her agent because she was caught working in a strip club.
Former child star Megan Prescott has revealed her experience as a sex worker inspired her new one-woman show: Really Good Exposure
The actress, 34, soared to fame at the age of 16 when she and her twin sister Kathryn landed the roles of Katie and Emily Finch on E4 drama Skins
Describing the plot as ‘Slumdog Millionaire in reverse’, she mused: ‘It’s a semi autobiographical play.
‘I took a lot of elements that happened to me in my real life, a lot of popular culture stories from especially the the 90s and early Noughties. And I like distilled them all down into one character and one story.’
Megan continued: ‘The themes are all themes that I’ve experienced throughout my life. I’ve worked in the adult industries and I’ve also worked in entertainment for as long as I can remember.
I wanted to write a show that used some of my life experience, but I didn’t want it to exclude a lot of people.
‘The sex industry and the acting industry are not something that a lot of people have experienced, but a lot of women, particularly millennial women, have come out of the show and said I really related to a lot of that.
‘I wanted to use some of my stories as a like a starting off point for something that could appeal to a much wider audience and they could relate to.’
On how it felt to show a more ‘vulnerable’ side to the audience, Megan laughed: ‘I am quite literally putting myself out there. I am exposed naked on stage and it is quite a vulnerable thing to do.
‘But I do think that you get something in theatre that you don’t get when you’re watching a screen. And I thought, I’m going to do it properly and do it honestly.’
When the pandemic hit and work dried up, she turned to OnlyFans to supplement her income, having previously worked as a stripper to support her acting career
The Skins cast are pictured in 2008 L-R Ollie Barberi, Lisa Backwell, twins, Kathryn and Megan Prescott, Luke Pasqualino, Merveille Lokeba and Lily Loveless
Megan began working as a stripper at the age of 22 to support her while she auditioned for acting jobs.
She then joined OnlyFans in 2020 while she was working in a distillery in London on a zero-hour contract and her manager ‘refused to furlough her for a while’.
With only £300 in her bank account and no way to pay her rent, her friend Haven – who co-hosts the podcast Strippers In The Attic – suggested OnlyFans as a way of earning an income.
Megan explained: ‘She was saying to me, “look there is already enough footage of you in like sexy content on the internet from Akins, but you’re just not making any money off of it anymore!”‘
In agreeance with her friend, Megan signed up for the site – where she sells full frontal naked photographs – and is a vocal ally of sex workers.
She revealed that she hopes those who attend her show leave with a different viewpoint and more understanding of the sex work industry.
Megan explained: ‘It’s quite a hard thing to get people on board with because of how much stigma there is around sex work.
Me coming out and being like, “we should decriminalise sex work and we should make it safer”, people are a bit like “ohh, but the safety of women…”
‘And your heart is in the absolute right place, but talk to sex workers and look at the industry and look at some of the parallels in other industries.’
You can watch Megan’s show, Really Good Exposure, at London’s Soho Theatre from September 2 to September 13. Tickets are available online
Megan continued: ‘I would love people to watch the show, see how the character in the shoW is treated in both industries [acting and sex work] and leave with questions and with a bit more of an open mind than they did before.
‘I know people don’t think it does, but sex workers rights are integral to to women’s rights.’
While Megan hasn’t turned her back on the acting industry, she explained she has no plans to give up her OnlyFans account, musing: ‘It’s been the most freeing thing I’ve ever done.’
You can watch Megan’s show, Really Good Exposure, at London’s Soho Theatre from September 2 to September 13.
Tickets are available at https://sohotheatre.com/dean-street/
