Rhian Sugden slammed by mum-shamers for selling racy pics to fund 8th IVF round

06 August 2023 , 08:00

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Rhian Sugden who has partnered with Rock Face has spoken candidly about her IVF journey (Image: Rock Face)

Rhian Sugden has been open about her journey with IVF but admits that some people "mum shame" her for having an OnlyFans account.

The star who found fame posing for Page 3 frequently shares her IVF journey with her online followers and now has a small support network who she's in constant contact with. But with her fame comes the relentless trolling from people who disagree with Rhian's line of work.

Speaking to the Mirror, the 36-year-old revealed she and her husband Oliver Mellor are currently in the middle of attempting for their first child together following painful rounds of IVF. "We're in the middle of IVF at the moment," she said before adding: "The eighth round, so who knows what the rest of the year is going to look like."

Discussing her decision to be open about her IVF struggles, the Bury-born star went on to add: "Once you start talking about it loads of people get in touch which is quite nice because I've formed a little community of friends and we're all the same position. I've never met them in real life but we speak all the time on WhatsApp so that's quite nice.

Rhian Sugden has revealed she's mum-shamed for having an OnlyFans account (INSTAGRAM)

The model and her Coronation Street star husband are currently on their eighth round of IVF (Dave Benett/Getty Images for The Ivy Spinningfields)

"Eighth time lucky hopefully – that's why I've got OnlyFans, it's expensive, it's like £15,000 per go. We had one round free with the NHS but, the other seven, not so much."

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"In the same breath, people will mum-shame me so to speak, even though I'm not a mum for being on OnlyFans," she revealed before adding: "Well if I'm not working, I can't afford this because it's extortionate.

"I feel lucky to be in a position where I can earn the money to pay for stuff like this. I'm not flashy, I don't drive around in a Range Rover or anything, my money is solely going on IVF at the moment." But since finding fame, Rhian considers posing for Page 3 has been the highlight of her career, saying: "Even though it's all non-PC now, back in the day when Page 3 girls were something to be aspired to – how weird is that, saying now.

"Looking back even further, people like Sam Fox and Linda Lusardi, girls loved all that so to be part of that timeline before it got shut down, I'm forever proud of that. It brought so many opportunities, I wouldn't have met my husband – it changed my life for the better."

But while some people frown upon the industry, Rhian and people who use online sites to flog their content are in full control and can choose what to share. However, while most fans send supportive messages, Rhian explained that she's been offered hundreds of thousands to go on a dinner date with one follower – which she politely turned down. Her Coronation Street actor husband Oliver often works as Rhian's main photographer and is completely comfortable with her account, which she explained isn't as explicit as some would imagine. "If anything, it's tamer than the magazines were," she said as she went on to say that she receives the largest sum of money, whereas back in her earlier days she would receive the "smallest cut".

The model found fame on Page 3 (rhiansuggers/Instagram)

Oliver often acts as Rhian's photographer for her content (Aaron Parfitt / SplashNews.com)

The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant teamed up with Rock Face and their campaign around attraction and the smells that can attract men to women. But while she says her husband always "smells delicious" there was one incident when Rhian was out with friends and her nose was turned.

"There was a guy sat behind us and he smelled absolutely amazing, it was so distracting," she joked before she revealed she "tapped him on the shoulder" to find out he was wearing Cred Aventus, leading to her instantly heading out to purchase some. But it's not just Oliver's scent that the couple love as Rhian revealed she wears a specific perfume for bed but she often surprises Oliver by wearing it during the day.

She said: "I wear it to bed or when you know you're going to get into the mood because if I wear that in the day, he associates it with nighttime. If we're going out for a nice meal, I put the perfume that he associates my smell with while we're in the zone."

Daniel Bird