An OnlyFans star who made £5m from making adult content and selling bathwater online has told Louis Theroux how she no longer has a relationship with her father after he discovered her online persona.
Belle Delphine, 24, who was born in South Africa but lives in the UK, currently boasts over 3m Instagram followers and charges subscribers £28-a-month to access her OnlyFans content.
As a result of her huge online following, the social media star – whose real name is Mary-Belle Kirschner – was able to purchase her ‘dream’ eight-bedroom home in the Sussex countryside.
Appearing on the latest episode of The Louis Theroux Podcast, Belle explained how she tried to keep her job a secret from her father, who lives in South Africa.
However, she says he became suspicious how she could afford to buy a house and discovered her online persona – resulting in him no longer being in Belle’s life.
During her conversation with Louis, Belle explained how she gained 1m Instagram followers in a month when she first pivoted her content away from fashion photos to more adult content in 2019.
She explained: ‘I didn’t think anything of it. My plan wasn’t to become big or popular or anything like that.
‘I just wanted enough money to move out of my mum’s place.’
In summer 2019, Belle went viral when she began selling her bath water for £24-a-jar to her followers – resulting in her supplies selling out in two days.
The adult creator said she got inspiration for the idea from ‘used panty’ machines that she had read about in Japan.
She continued: ‘i was trying to think of something more unique so I went down the [route] of selling my own spit or hair.
‘But I didn’t want to cut my hair and it’s very hard to produce a lot of spit. So then I was thinking of something else that’s close to my physical body that I could produce and sell in a cute way that I thought was quite fun to do.’
The star’s father, who is from Cape Town, worked in advertisement and film production, which is how he met Belle’s model mother.
In summer 2019, Belle went viral when she began selling her bath water for £24-a-jar to her followers
Elsewhere in the podcast, Belle (pictured) detailed how obsessed fans have turned up at her mother’s home and left notes telling her that she needed to pay her taxes
OnlyFans star Belle Delphine – who has made over £5m from her adult content – appears in the latest episode of Louis Theroux’s Spotify podcast
The couple married after knowing each other for a year – around the time Belle’s mother’s visa ran out and she had fallen pregnant.
Reflecting on her relationship with her father, she said: ‘There was no aspects of raising children that he seemed to enjoy.
‘My childhood was very much tiptoeing around my dad.’
After their relationship broke down, Belle says she reached out to her father when she first bought her house to try and salvage things in early 2019.
Although Belle explained she had sympathy for her father’s ‘tough upbringing’ and difficult character at times, she said this meant he was the ‘only one she couldn’t tell’ about her work.
‘Everybody in my family knows,’ she said. ‘I never wanted it to be a secret thing because everyone always finds out eventually.’
Despite her father’s visit ‘going well’ initially, Belle suspects that he Googled her not long after visiting her house and discovered her online persona.
She explained: ‘I think it was that evening or the next day and he just went wild. He went crazy.
‘The messages he was writing… it was just horrible. But he’s always been like that so it’s not something I wouldn’t have expected.’
However, Belle says she doesn’t regret reaching out to her father at that time because she would have ‘always wondered’ if they could have had a better relationship.
Later on in the podcast, Belle addressed critics saying she has ‘daddy issues’ as a result – admitting that she does look for older partners who will ‘look after’ her.
Although Belle admitted that her OnlyFans subscriber count fluctuates weekly, she claimed that she makes £1m-a-month from the platform.
Belle has also offered a ‘girlfriend experience’ through her online platforms, which involves having direct conversations with the star.
Out of her thousands of subscribers, Belle says she’s ‘quite picky’ about how she speaks to individually – and circles back to the top 50-100 best tippers.
She added: ‘I can’t message everyone and I don’t think it’s something you should necessarily expect […] It’s quite strange being in a sexual mindset.’
Although Belle says she has consented to everything she has posted online, she’s aware that some of her content – particularly videos – is not something she can ‘take back’.
In 2020, Belle says she regrets putting out her first pornographic video that enabled her to buy her dream house because it was ‘quite s**t’ and ‘awkward’.
She said: ‘It’s one thing posting your first porn video, it’s another thing posting a porn video knowing millions of people are going to see it. The pressure of it was too much for me.’
Louis was left stunned when Belle informed him that the video had made her a staggering £5m.
Belle Delphine, 24, who was born in South Africa but lives in the UK, currently boasts over 3m Instagram followers and charges subscribers £28-a-month to access her OnlyFans content
Despite this, Belle says she would like to ‘disappear’ from the internet one day.
She added: ‘I’m not really interested in the fame aspect so there will be nothing really holding me on at that point.
‘I think once it’s run it’s course, I’ll just leave it.’
Elsewhere in the podcast, Belle detailed how obsessed fans have turned up at her mother’s home and left notes telling her that she needed to pay her taxes – as they assumed OnlyFans stars didn’t.
Detailing one experience she had with a fan, she explained: ‘He claimed he knew who I was and I was a 30 year old woman and we were in love and that he’d met me many times and we’d had this whole relationship.
‘He would rewrite the same handwritten letter hundreds of times and he’d send me sad gifts.’
Belle regularly posts pictures of herself dressed up as anime and video game characters
Belle ultimately ended up reporting this fan to police after he sent her his passport, credit cards and a doctor’s note detailing his psychotic episodes.
Later on, Belle said she is aware she’ll feel ‘uncomfortable’ as she gets older knowing that her nude photos are on the internet.
She explained: ‘I’m not against sex work at all […] but what about if you shoot content with a partner and things go quite sour?
‘Do you still keep selling this video of you and your ex partner to people because it makes you money?
‘I haven’t personally had this but others have. How do you deal with your uncle purchasing your OnlyFans?’
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
