Topless selfies, socks over private parts and just a sink to protect their modesty: Why Team GB’s divers are having to use OnlyFans and sell subscriptions for £7.75 a month to fund their Olympics dream

It’s the shady site that sex workers use to post pornography. An adult platform where subscribers pay for explicit content from their favorite accounts.

But OnlyFans has now been infiltrated by Olympians posting provocative photos and videos to fund their dream of a gold medal.

And leading the way is Team GB’s Jack Laugher, the country’s first Olympic-level diving champion who is now aiming for glory at Paris 2024.

How did it get to this point? For Laugher, the answer is simple. “There’s not a lot of money to be made in diving,” he says. “So I do whatever I can to make a little more money. I have something that people want — and I like to try to sell it. It’s a really, really good way for me to make a little extra money.”

Laugher first received National Lottery funding when he was 16, a year before he made his Olympic debut at London 2012.

“It was £21,000 for the top eight in the world,” he recalls. “At the time, as a 16-year-old, I was crazy about it.”

But 12 years and three Olympic medals later, Laugher still receives just £28,000 a year in funding – and has precious little commercial opportunity in a sport that only gets the limelight once every four years.

Even if he wins a second gold medal in Paris, he will not earn any prize money, as athletics is the only Olympic sport where champions can earn money.

“I’m nearly 30 now, I’m in the top three in the world,” said the Harrogate-born star. “Obviously £28,000 is a very good salary and you can live on it, but it’s not a salary that is generally considered in the sport.

‘We’ve all seen Wimbledon and the prize money for winning is extraordinary. If you go out in the first round you get more (£60,000) than I earn in a whole year as a sponsored athlete.

‘When I was younger my dad would say, “If you have an Olympic gold medal, it’s worth £1 million”. But it’s not nearly that much – and I can tell you that as someone who has won an Olympic gold medal.’

Laugher says it was actually his father David who suggested he supplement his income by charging for the content he was already posting for free.

“My dad said to me, ‘You put stuff on Instagram, but if the product is free, like Instagram, you are the product,’” he explains.

And so Laugher joined OnlyFans in September 2021, shortly after the Tokyo Olympics. Since then, he’s posted 570 semi-nude photos and 54 videos, racking up 134,000 likes and earning thousands of pounds.

Subscribers pay £7.75 a month to watch Laugher’s content, or they can pay £22 upfront for three months or £42 for six months. Fans can also pay ‘tips’ for each post. The piece that earned Laugher the most tips – £341 – was a video of him showering in his underwear in April.

Laugher’s most recent post was on Monday and shows him taking a topless selfie in the mirror with his hand in his pants. He has also posted photos in which only a sink protects his modesty.

In his final video on July 14, he told fans, “I can’t wait to compete in the Olympics. With the competition coming up, I’m obviously going to be less active. I’ve already lost a little bit of my fitness leading up to these Games.

“I really hope to do my best and then be back and give you all what you all want to see. There will be content that’s been pre-recorded and done, so there will still be something posted every week.”

Laugher’s OnlyFans bio states that his content is “SFW” (safe for work). People who subscribe to his page receive a private message from him, which reads, “My page is going to be a little more liberating than my Instagram. I still have my boundaries, and I hope you guys respect those.”

On the stigma attached to the platform, Laugher says, “I understand how it’s perceived. I understand that people can look at it negatively. But I know what I’m doing and I’m comfortable with what I’m doing.

‘My profile clearly states that there is no nudity. I am not trying to pretend to be someone I am not.

‘I give people things very similar to what I’ve posted before, but for a small subscription fee.

‘I’ve always loved modeling and I’m about a foot too short to be a real underwear model. I’m probably also on a scale of five out of ten below the norm for how pretty I am.

“But I like to show myself and that’s what I do. This way I can earn myself a little bit of money and prepare myself a little bit better for the future.

“I’ve had other side jobs. I’ve done underwear modeling calendars. Obviously I have something that people want, and I’m happy to take advantage of it – I don’t care.”

Laugher is a pioneer in British diving, winning Team GB’s first gold medal in the sport when he teamed with Chris Mears to triumph in the synchronised diving three-metre springboard at Rio 2016. But he’s now also a pioneer outside the pool, with several teammates joining him on OnlyFans.

Noah Williams, who will run the 10m synchro in Paris with Tom Daley, joined the platform in March 2023. His bio also includes “SWF content” and encourages fans to “support my Olympic journey.”

The 24-year-old Commonwealth champion has posted 134 photos and 129 videos in 14 months, including some in which only a towel or sock covers his genitals.

Matty Lee and Daniel Goodfellow, who have both won Olympic medals alongside Daley, are also listed on the site, although they are not in Team GB’s squad for Paris 2024.

“I was the first on our team to do that and now there are many of us,” added Laugher, who will compete in both the 3-meter individual and synchronized events in Paris.

‘It’s actually quite fun to be on board together, as if it’s something we do. We’re all in the same position.

“There are a lot of athletes on this team and some of them will never make it to the top three in the world. In Olympic sport you may never get to that funding position, so it’s trying to earn that extra money.

“I’ve heard other athletes from other countries report it and it’s just something different. Who doesn’t like a little more money if they can?

‘I saw Nick Kyrgios doing something with it. They’re trying to use a platform to change the way they’re perceived.’

Australian tennis star Kyrgios launched a free OnlyFans page in December 2023, featuring a “behind-the-scenes view of the tennis tour.” Most of his videos are of him at tournaments and all are fully clothed.

“They’re revolutionizing social media and I wanted to be a part of it,” Kyrgios said in a statement last year. “Athletes can no longer just be on the court. We have to be online. I want to create, produce, direct and own content. That’s the future.”

On Wikipedia, OnlyFans is described as an “internet content service primarily used by sex workers who produce pornography.” But the platform itself says it is an “18+ subscription platform that enables creators to reach their full potential, monetize their content, and build authentic connections with their fans.”

The website also states: ‘We are an inclusive platform where diverse content creators enter the scene.’

Another athlete competing on OnlyFans in Paris 2024 is Canadian pole vaulter Alysha Newman, who finished second at the Diamond League in London last weekend, ahead of Britain’s Molly Caudery.

Former world champion speed skater Elise Christie, who represented Great Britain in three Winter Olympics, is also on the site. She says it saved her life after she quit.

For Laugher, the money he makes from OnlyFans isn’t nearly as important. But his extra income could help him land a spot on the podium in Paris.