Former Harry Potter star Jessie Cave has revealed that her OnlyFans account has 'genuinely saved our lives' after she struggled to find work following the franchise's end. The 39-year-old mum-of-four, who played Lavender Brown, initially expected to earn around £5,000 over a few months, but has now been on the platform for over a year and a half.
From Supermarket Reject to Online Success
Cave, who landed the role as a teenager, found that work slowed down to the point where she couldn't even get a job at a supermarket. In an interview with The Times, she explained that OnlyFans provided the income she needed to survive.
Metro's sex columnist Sydney Summers relates to Cave's experience, having turned to the explicit platform four years ago after being sacked from a contracting job. Summers was promised a year-long position but was let go due to budget cuts, leaving her to cover an expensive one-bedroom flat on her own after a breakup.
A Surprising Source of Income
Summers had started an OnlyFans account during lockdown but rarely used it. When she logged back in, she found inactive subscribers had accumulated around £700. This convinced her to return, and within a month, her earnings skyrocketed from £60 a week to £1,000 every few days.
'Soon I was making £6,000 a month – more than I'd ever made in any job my entire life,' Summers wrote. She invested in equipment like tripods and lighting, and received gifts including jewellery, clothes, and make-up.
A Growing Trend Among Celebrities
While Cave creates non-sexual content, such as brushing her hair, Summers' account features more explicit material. Both, however, share the same goal: financial survival. Summers notes that celebrities like Lily Allen and Denise Richards have also turned to online sex work, highlighting the precarious nature of modern employment.
'Where you used to be able to work your way up at a company until retirement, now we spend our careers worried about layoffs, redundancies, budget cuts or — like many female actors — no longer getting the jobs you deserve,' she added.
No Shame in Survival
Summers praises Cave for her honesty and encourages others to shed the stigma associated with such platforms. 'There's no shame in finding new ways to make money in this difficult life,' she said, noting that she still maintains her OnlyFans alongside other work.
