Sex with my long-term boyfriend was getting stale — until I started doing OnlyFans

• Tegan-Leigh Grey, 25, from the UK, creates OnlyFans content alone and also with her boyfriend.
• Creating sexual content has helped her and her partner to be more experimental.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Tegan-Leigh Grey. It has been edited for length and clarity.

My partner and I had been together for five years and we'd gotten into a pattern of having the same kinds of sex. We'd go to work, come home, and have the kind of sex where you fit it in 10 minutes before dinner.

But that all changed seven months ago when I made an OnlyFans account.

I started by just selling pictures of myself in my lingerie, and then added topless and nude photos, too. As I got more confident, I started doing custom content for subscribers, like videos where I'd use sex toys.

Creating this content has helped me to be more experimental in my sex life outside of OnlyFans.

I try out requests from subscribers with my boyfriend

I'll say to my partner: "My subscriber wants me to do this and I've never done it before, so let's try it first."

We've had a lot of firsts since I started OnlyFans: we'd never tried anal until we tested it out for content. This was exciting to film, it was fun to do, and it wasn't scary because I trust my partner.

Filming it was a bit of a performance: we chose the best angle and position for viewers, so we probably would have done it differently if we weren't filming.

But trying anal helped us break out of that rut we were in.

Trying new sex acts has also helped me feel more confident in my sex life. I'm a classic submissive but a lot of men on OnlyFans want me to be dominant, so I've had to learn to experiment and try to fit that role.

I've brought that new side into sex with my boyfriend, and it's helped us feel more comfortable around each other, understand each other's boundaries better, and find new things that we both enjoy.

Seven months into doing OnlyFans, we now create sex content together, including full-sex and anal videos. I sell them on the site and pay him.

I made almost $3,000 in my first month on OnlyFans

My partner wasn't always so open, though.

Long before I started OnlyFans, I posted photos of myself in lingerie on Instagram. I always said it was to show off my tattoos, but it was mainly just pictures of my ass.

My boyfriend was never over the moon about the content I posted on Instagram, but he wouldn't tell me what I can and can't do, and I've always been active on that platform as well as Tumblr and TikTok. It's the first thing I check when I wake up.

Then last summer I started posting videos on TikTok. Again, it was partly to show off my tattoos but I also liked sharing the ass pictures. By November I had 50,000 followers.

I realized I could be making money, so I started looking into OnlyFans and saw how other creators like Rebecca Goodwin, who has 2.1 million likes on OnlyFans, were doing it. I wanted to see what the general vibe was because I didn't want to do something that would make me feel uncomfortable.

I told my boyfriend about the serious money that could be made if I set up an OnlyFans account. At first he didn't see the point and didn't understand why people would pay when there's so much free porn out there.

I didn't want to start an account until he was comfortable with it, but eventually he told me to go for it.

I ended up making almost $3,000 in a month, which was more than my boyfriend or I had ever made. His reaction was: "Oh shit!"

Now I have a menu where I offer services including "dick ratings" and "jerk off instructions." I'm in the top 2.2% of OnlyFans creators, which means I'm making more money than most people on the site.

The blurring of my work and personal life can be challenging

Sometimes I struggle with the blurring of sex for content and my personal life, and I'm sure my partner would agree.

I'll spend hours getting dressed up, looking sexy, and making and editing my solo videos. My boyfriend will be watching from the other side of the room getting all turned on.

Once I've finished he'll say "let's have sex," but I'm not in the mood after everything I've just been doing with a sex toy. I try and put time aside for us to be together but it's something I'm still learning.

Even when we finish filming together, we don't stop filming and have sex —we stop filming and get takeout.

But my partner's been supportive throughout the whole process, especially when he realized he didn't have to work because I was making so much money.

I've told everyone I do OnlyFans so no-one can blackmail me

I've been really open and honest with everyone else, too. I told my mom that I was making videos with my boyfriend and she knows exactly what that means. My dad knows, too. I told everyone so no one could threaten me by saying they'd share my content with family members.

I told my former work colleagues and they were just pleased that I'm doing so well and that I'm happy. The only negativity I receive is from strangers online with no profile picture.

Other than that, it's been a positive experience and my subscribers are really lovely, too.

Having these subscribers has allowed me to do OnlyFans full-time since finishing college recently. It's given me so much freedom and it's allowing me to go travelling later this year with my partner.

Before this, I was working in a pub. It was early mornings, late nights, and 12-plus hour shifts. And when I put in the extra effort, I wasn't getting anything extra back — it would just benefit my bosses.

But doing OnlyFans, I am my own boss. Whatever I make it's for me and I can say "I did that, go me."