Former adult performer Lana Rhoades has announced she is returning to the industry through an AI digital twin, saying she will not need to film another explicit scene herself. The double is being launched through Candy AI and is set to go live on November 11, with subscriptions priced at $13.99.
What the digital twin will offer
Rhoades, who has more than 13 million Instagram followers (@lanarhoades), said the replica will provide fans with personalised pictures and videos as well as one-to-one chats, keeping her actual body off-screen. According to Rhoades, the double will offer both non-explicit and adult content, with fans able to hold conversations around the clock.
The digital version is deliberately modelled on Rhoades at the start of her career. She said: "My digital twin is based on 19-year-old Lana, and she will pick up where I left off in the adult industry."
She added: "Fans aren't just consuming pre-recorded media anymore; with this, they can interact, chat 24/7, and generate customised content with the version of me."
Rhoades on control and the industry she entered in 2016
Reflecting on the business she joined in 2016, Rhoades said agents set performers' rates and booked their shoots, leaving them with limited authority over what happened on camera. She said: "Before 2016, you would find an agent, they would fly you to LA, you'd stay in some small quarters, sometimes sharing a bed with another new performer, and they'd book you to shoot sex scenes for about $1,200. Your agent chose your rate. You also had little say over who your sex partner in the scenes would be. There was not much autonomy in the hands of performers."
She insists the new venture does not signal a desire to return to filming. "I am at a point in my career where it would no longer make me happy to use my own body for explicit sex content," she said.
Popularity after quitting filming in 2017
Rhoades stopped filming in 2017, but her popularity continued. She topped Pornhub's most-searched performer ranking in 2019, with reporting on the site's annual figures putting her video views at 345 million.
She has previously spoken about wishing she could remove the films that made her famous. During a 2021 appearance on Harry Jowsey's Tap In podcast, she said she did not hold the rights to many of her old videos and that, if she did, she would probably have deleted them. Speaking on The Skinny Confidential Him and Her Podcast, she recalled earning $1,200 per scene while a male social media creator she met was receiving $15,000 for an Instagram picture.
Approval of the replica and its launch
Rhoades said she personally signed off the details of the version fans will interact with. Asked whether she had flirted with her digital twin to see what it would say back, she replied: "Absolutely, and she completely blew me away. Her flirt game is dangerously strong and she always has the perfect comeback."
For her, the appeal is the chance to continue her business without physically performing. "It's hard to explain how liberating it is," she said. She believes more creators will consider digital doubles as a way of stepping back from filming, saying: "Having a digital twin completely rewrites that equation. I think more and more creators are going to look at this and realize they don't have to sacrifice their wellbeing to sustain a long-term career."
She added: "I was completely hands-on and approved every single detail. I absolutely love her. It was incredibly important to me that she looks, breathes, and sounds just like the real me. Fans get the ultimate Lana Rhoades experience, but entirely on my terms, meaning my real-world boundaries are never crossed."
