Annie Knight’s record-breaking OnlyFans session: Shock value or social statement?

OnlyFans stars are banking more in a week than most Aussies earn each year from performing extreme sexual acts, which they say simultaneously fulfils their wildest “fantasies”.

But experts have revealed the “alarming race” to become young OnlyFans millionaires by performing increasingly shocking sex stunts for subscribers can have long-term consequences.

Even super-successful Australian social media star Annie Knight recently had to “up the ante” in order to cut through the saturated adult content market.

Last month, she slept with 583 men in six hours to make content for her OnlyFans audience.

Ms Knight told The Nightly that when she decided to host the Gold Coast gang-bang, she expected about 200 men to show up.

Instead, almost 600 Aussie blokes — wearing joggers and gym clothes — lined up around the block for just 30 seconds of intimacy with the glamorous porn star.

The tightly-orchestrated event, which a “grateful” Ms Knight described as “the best day of my life”, tripled her income, which skyrocketed to more than $7 million a year.

“It was such an amazing experience. I had a lot of fun,” she said.

“It was definitely sexually arousing and satisfying. Obviously not every guy made me finish, but six guys did, which I think is pretty good considering they didn’t have much time.

“It was my biggest fantasy but also great publicity and marketing. It really was a win win win.”

Ms Knight calls these challenges, and her OnlyFans career, “empowering”.

“I’m doing what I want to do with my body. I choose to do this. I’m going to earn money from it. I’m not being forced into it. I enjoy what I’m doing,” she said.

“It’s been a lot of fun stepping into my sexuality and living out all these fantasies. It’s my body and my choice, and I’m doing what I love.

“It makes me feel really special that so many people would show up to have an experience with me.”

Ms Knight’s rage-bait event followed similar stunts by other famous OnlyFans stars.

In January, British porn star Bonnie Blue broke a world record when she slept with 1057 men in 12 hours.

Last year, Lily Phillips, 23, filmed her “fantasy” of having sex with 101 men in one day.

These women represent a new breed of sex workers achieving fame and financial freedom by selling sexually explicit videos of themselves through OnlyFans.

But experts have raised the alarm about the impacts these increasingly extreme challenges have on the performers, young women’s perceptions of sex work and men’s brains.

Relationship counsellor Amanda Lambros said the “sensational stunts”, aimed at maximising attention and profit, are problematic “in many ways”.

“While they’re undeniably headline-grabbing, they also reflect an alarming race to the bottom in pursuit of virality and income,” she said.

“These challenges . . . commodify intimacy, often in ways that desensitise viewers and reduce human connection to a spectacle.

“It also distorts ideas around consent, boundaries and relational sex.

“When women’s bodies become battlegrounds for attention economies, we’re treading in dehumanising waters.”

Ms Lambros — a therapist, author and academic — said these sex challenges formed part of a rapidly shifting sexual landscape in which ever-increasingly extreme sexual acts created an unsustainable “dopamine trap”.

“What was once shocking becomes standard and creators are forced to escalate in order to stay relevant,” she said.

“That cycle is mentally and physically exhausting, and rarely sustainable.

“It also distorts reality in a major way. When men consume these stunts without context, they may develop unrealistic expectations of women’s sexual availability, stamina, and enthusiasm.”

And the medical, physical and psychological risks are real.

“Physically, repetitive or extreme sexual activity can lead to injury, infections, and trauma,” the popular PerthNow columnist said.

“Psychologically, the constant need to escalate for attention can feed anxiety, burnout, body dysmorphia, or dissociation.

“Not to mention the pressure of maintaining a hypersexual persona 24/7.”

Ms Knight said she was conscious of, and tried to mitigate, the risks.

“If I was filming with 583 porn stars, I would say, yes, there’s a large risk involved,” she said.

“But these guys weren’t porn stars, so they didn’t have huge dicks.

“The only time I really haven’t made the guys get an STI test was for the challenge, but they all used condoms, of course.

“Thankfully I’ve been tested twice since then and everything’s all good.”

The Gold Coast sex worker also insists that her content is “educational” and emphasises respect and consent.

Ms Lambros said that despite this, the “Instagram-ification of sex work” was filtered, lucrative-looking, and potentially misleading.

“It promises fast money, autonomy, and fame . . . but without showing the full cost,” she said.

“The top earners present a curated highlight reel.

“What’s rarely shown is the emotional toll, safety risks, platform instability, or long-term financial planning.”

Psychologist Shannon Webb, from The Banyans Healthcare in Brisbane, said the nature of these sex challenges means the women portrayed are often dehumanised by their viewers.

“Intimacy and sex are complex experiences, and pornography, particularly to this extreme, can desensitise people to what sex and intimacy means for them,” she said.

“As viewers become desensitised over time, there is demand for more extreme styles of porn content (putting) pressure on content creators … to do extreme acts they wouldn’t ordinarily entertain.”

Ms Webb, who treats clients with porn addiction at the luxury rehab clinic, said that in addition to the intensity of these challenges, OnlyFans creators were exposing themselves to the para-social relationships and the perceived intimacy their subscribers expect from them.

“OnlyFans not only makes pornography easily accessible but creates a personalised experience between creators and viewers, which can exist healthily but can easily be abused, resulting in unhealthy dependence and addiction,” she said.

“OnlyFans also promotes ‘live’ content viewing, which can encourage a greater sense of perceived intimacy, with followers believing they share a personal connection with their content creators.”

Ms Knight admits subscribers expect constant attention and interaction.

“It’s like a friendship as we do talk every day,” she said.

“I look at it more as if I’m providing them with company.

“A lot of these people work really high-powered jobs and don’t have a lot of time to date, so I’m just kind of giving them that company and girlfriend experience.”

Due to her fans’ dependence, she cannot afford to disconnect.

“At the end of the day, a lot of the subs want to chat to you . . . and if you don’t respond, they can often get quite offended, feel that you’ve ghosted them or ask ‘what am I paying for?’” she said.

“So I think people will unsubscribe (if I take a break) and you’re just not making as much money from doing video calls, sexting sessions and stuff like that.”

The 28-year-old insists her success is “definitely worth” the sacrifices but “is not the easy way out”.

“You have to work really hard,” she said.

“I think you’ve just got to be 100 per cent sure that you want to do it (long-term) and that it’s going to be worth it in the end.”

Jenna Love, president of Scarlet Alliance, said the Australian Sex Workers Association supports “sex workers to be able to work in whatever way best suits them” but cautions that most OnlyFans creators cannot survive on that income alone.

“Most OnlyFans content creators earn well under the poverty line,” she said.

“There are a number of big tech companies involved, taking a cut from OnlyFans creators, but the ability to have that level of flexibility and control over your own work is broadly a positive thing.”

As for sex challenges, Ms Love rejects the outrage.

“I think most people are switched on enough to know that it’s just a stunt and that is not the standard and not what’s expected (from women),” she said.

Ms Love said she hosted a 30-man gang bang for her 30th birthday which was work-related but also for her own pleasure.

“It was a bit of a stunt, but it was also something I really wanted to do. Sexually, that really appealed to me,” she said.

“I think what’s missing from a lot of that conversation is that some people are into that, and that’s OK.”

For Ms Knight, there is no turning back, and she is now contemplating “what to do next”.

“I would like to do, not necessarily a numbers challenge, but maybe a different angle, like single dads or virgins,” she said.

“Giving them the opportunity (to be with me) would be cool.”

That almost makes it sound like a form of public service.

“Yes, that’s exactly how I see it,” she quipped.