One of Australia’s best-known sex workers is stepping away. According to PerthNow‘s Tegwen Bescoby, OnlyFans star “Blue Eyed” Kayla Jade, 32, told her 2.4 million followers in a roughly 90-second TikTok video on Tuesday that she is leaving the industry she has worked in since 2021.
“I’m retiring from the industry,” she said at the top of the clip.
Mission accomplished
According to news.com.au‘s Gabriela Amoils, Jade made the announcement while running through her skincare routine, and framed it as a goal reached rather than a sudden exit. She said her main aims when she started were to set her family up, buy a “forever home,” and give them a life she never thought she could.
“I’m so lucky to have been able to do all of that,” she said. She added that she never expected the side benefits: writing a book, performing in front of live audiences and appearing on morning TV. Her memoir, Call Girl Confidential, came out earlier this year, and she also hosts the podcast Storytime with Kayla Jade.
Why now
The travel wore her down. Jade said the touring and what she called “celebrity freak-offs” had taken a toll, and that being away from home was getting harder. “I miss the kids, I miss the chickens,” she told followers, per news.com.au. She said she always knew the work couldn’t last forever and figured she would simply wake up one day and decide she was done. “Turns out it’s today.”
She told viewers she is now in a position to stop and enjoy what she has worked for, and that the decision left her “so happy and content with life,” PerthNow reports.
What’s not changing
News.com.au says the retirement covers full-service sex work specifically. Jade still plans to take on media projects and reality TV, and she told commenters her vlogs and life updates aren’t going anywhere because she “loves” posting on TikTok. She also said she will keep advocating for sex workers’ rights and pushing to destigmatize the work.
Fans mostly cheered her on. Some asked her to keep sharing her life online, and, according to PerthNow, a few suggested she start a snack plate business, a nod to the snack spreads that have built their own following on her page.
The takeaway
Jade is a clear example of how a creator’s brand can outgrow the work that built it. She turned client stories into a social following, then into a book, a podcast and TV spots. She’s walking away from sex work on her own timeline, with her money goals met, and she’s keeping the audience. For creators wondering what an exit plan looks like, this is one worth watching.
Image: Woman applies skincare product in bathroom, photo by Shixart1985 (CC BY 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons.
