STANDING in the kitchen, dressed in a scanty red bikini bottom, Alysha Newman poses for a series of saucy photos.
She shares a selection on her OnlyFans account and sees the messages from her followers pour in.
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However, 30-year-old Alysha is not an aspiring model or a would-be Love Island contestant, but rather a celebrated athlete.
Alysha is an Olympic superstar, winning bronze in the women’s pole vault at the Paris Olympics.
While she’s obviously proud of her athletic achievements, Alysha says there’s no reason why she shouldn’t be just as proud of her OnlyFans account.
In an exclusive chat with Fabulous, she says: “It’s a great platform, I love it.
Read more about the Olympic Games
“I am proud of what I achieve on the platform. It is empowering.
“I can connect with my fans, I can inspire people and my fans can support me.
“This way they get to see almost every aspect of my life.”
OnlyFans is often dismissed as a glorified porn site, but Alysha, who lives in London, Canada, says there’s much more to it.
“There is a lot of stigma attached to it,” she says.
“But it’s not just naked porn stars, people don’t realise there are so many world class chefs, athletes including medal-winning rowers and divers, DJs and Formula 1 drivers who have a page.
“I create content, I message fans, I go live, it helps me connect and I find out what people want to see and learn.”
Alysha made headlines at the Paris Games when she celebrated her 4.85-meter pole vault by twerking.
“It was spontaneous and cheerful,” she says.
“The 4.85 meter jump meant I had broken the Canadian record. It was my 15th record breaking jump and I was so happy.
“I started dancing and it ended in a twerk.
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“Winning the Olympic medal was my childhood dream, and at 30 I finally did it. I was so happy that I celebrated it.”
Alysha also won the bronze medal for her vault, making her the first Canadian woman to win a medal in this sport at the Olympics.
“My motto is to raise the bar, I’ve been doing that all my life,” she says.
Within hours she raised the bar again and set a new record.
Her Only Fans page crashed due to the large number of people signing up after seeing her jump and dance.
Since then, OF’s membership has exploded, Alysha says, with another 30,000 followers paying a monthly subscription fee of £10 to watch content – some racy, some professional – and to interact with her.
She has 752,000 followers on Instagram and 52,000 on TikTok.
“I don’t want people to pay to see me. I want people to log in and learn something,” she says.
Alysha started her Only Fans page in 2020 before the Tokyo Olympics
“I started the account to document my Olympic experience as there were no spectators at the Tokyo Games due to COVID precautions,” she says.
“I started the account to give people a behind-the-scenes look at the competitions. They could see what I ate, how I exercised and follow my ups and downs.”
If you insult me, I will not answer you
Alysha Nieuwman
Alysha’s fans got a glimpse into real life in the Olympic Village, from her unique perspective as a fan.
She talked about her injury problems, how she prepares for the day of an event and what she eats and wears.
“I get really happy from the energy of people and the audience,” she says.
“Knowing that I wouldn’t have that during the Tokyo Olympics, this was a great solution.
“It went so well that I said, OK, my fans want to know more. So 16 days turned into a year, turned into two years, and I decided to take people to the games in Paris.”
Alysha admitted that she initially had reservations about joining the platform.
“My first conversation was with my family,” she recalls.
“I said, ‘I know there’s a lot of stigma around this website and this is new to me, but what do you think?’
“I remember my sister saying, ‘If you don’t try, how will you ever know?’
“And she was right. If I hadn’t done it then, I wouldn’t be doing it now. There was clearly something that resonated with me and it completely changed my life.
“I’ve said over the years that I could be the one to change the stigma around OnlyFans.
“I know I can’t change everyone’s mind, that’s not my goal.
“Now I vlog on my OF and even my mom shared what it’s like raising an Olympic athlete. It’s a place to be myself and share my life.”
OTHER OLYMPIANS ON ONLYFANS
Elise Christie
Former Team GB skater Christie, 33, retired in 2021 after winning 10 golds at the European Championships and three golds at the World Championships.
After hanging up her skates, she struggled with alcoholism, homelessness and self-harm.
She now has an OnlyFans account, which charges £7 a month.
On her profile she says, “Prepare to be teased, teased, and maybe even a little surprised.
“I will share exclusive content that is spontaneous and exciting.”
Liz Cambage
After winning bronze for Australia in basketball at the 2012 Olympics, London-born Cambage knew how to capitalise on her looks.
She faced criticism from Australian basketball authorities, but her peers always supported her.
The 32-year-old told The Herald Sun: “I was so scared to actually do it.
“But my friends and family pushed me and said, don’t worry about what others say. People will either love or hate you anyway.”
Over 98,000 likes later, she charges around £4.40 to view her content.
Verona van de Leur
In 2002, Van de Leur was named Dutch Sportswoman of the Year.
But the gymnast’s career went downhill when she suffered a serious injury.
The downward spiral left Van de Leur homeless for two years, in a legal battle with her father and, in 2011, behind bars after being convicted of blackmail.
The 38-year-old soon found redemption in a career in the porn industry.
Her two OnlyFans accounts are an extension of the new chapter in her life. One features porn and nudes, the other is a bit safer.
Noah Williams
Tom Daley’s 24-year-old 10m platform partner Noah has secured a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
But expect more responses on his OnlyFans page, where he promises two posts a week.
Here too, a subscription costs £7 per month.
Better yet, in his profile he promises that you can “chat with me personally.”
Jack Lach
In 2016, Laugher became the first ever Team GB diving champion.
And now he’s an OnlyFans favourite, with a subscription supplementing his income by £7 a month.
The content is very safe.
Laugher, 29, is usually seen in his speedo, just like he would at the pool.
Daniel Goodfellow
Goodfellow won bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics and is Daley’s former partner on the 10m platform.
Like his fellow divers, he likes to share photos of himself in his speedos with fans.
His profile promises: “Fun and exclusive content! Get to know me on a more personal level and get the chance to see and interact with posts that you can’t see anywhere else.”
The cost for this is approximately £8.
Alysha admits that some people sign up on her Only Fans page to troll her.
“If you put me down, I won’t answer you,” she replies.
“I enjoy connecting with like-minded people on my page.”
Olympic officials never complained about Alysha’s OnlyFans success.
She is proud to be leading the way in showing other athletes how OnlyFans can help them.
“It was important to me to show other athletes that they can join and that it can be a safe community,” she says.
“Other athletes have seen the content I have posted and were shocked because they expected it to be different based on their perception of the site.”
Alysha admits that she enjoys taking part in racy or risqué photoshoots, which she uses as content for part of her OF site.
“I did an Agent Provocateur shot of pole vaulting in lingerie,” she says.
“It was one of the coolest shoots. It was a women’s shoot and only staffed by women.
“I also did body painting to spice it up a bit.”
She admits she’s had some unusual requests from fans.
“I always get strange requests,” she admits.
“I get excited about what people ask, it gives me a good insight into what people think of me.
“A lot of people have asked for pictures of all my medals lined up. They love that.”
But Alysha isn’t an open book when people ask if they can expect full nudity on her page.
“People want to know what I post on there. I think my page survives because people don’t say what I post on there,” she admits.
“I am confident in who I am and I am secure in who I am. You have to subscribe to see what is on there.”
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