Being sexy is no longer about natural looks – glamour girls & TV stars look like filters, it’s scary, says Sam Fox

SHE was one of the most popular glamour models in the Eighties with legions of adoring fans.

So Sam Fox is well-placed to pass judgment on today’s crop of top models, who she reckons rely too heavily on cosmetic surgery unlike the girls in her day.

Sam Fox enjoyed a stratospheric rise to fame after becoming one of The Sun’s page 3 girls in 1983Veteran model Sam reckons the pressures of social media has changed modelling foreverRex

The 56-year-old says the pressure of social media and watching perfectly preened reality stars on TV are pushing young women into having cosmetic “tweakments” like fillers and Botox.

“I’ve never had any work done,” she says.

“We didn’t try to look sexy, we were natural, the girls next door — and that’s why people liked us.

“Unfortunately, that naturalness is going out of the window, as they now start cosmetic tweakments so young.

“It’s a shame.

“It’s because of what the young girls are looking at, reality TV, social media, everybody airbrushing themselves, not making themselves look real.

“Young girls have peer pressure to look a certain way.

“There was nothing like that in my day.

“That’s why it was the best.

“You’d see a pretty girl in a newspaper and she’d be natural.

“I have no qualms against people doing what they want to themselves, everybody has a right, but just don’t get addicted to it.”

Sam adds: “Everyone is trying to have a real life filter on their face.

“Once you start, people tend to carry on and that’s the scary bit.”

Sam enjoyed a stratospheric rise to fame after becoming one of The Sun’s Page 3 girls in 1983.

Sam worries that models these days aren’t given the right guidance, in the wake of X-rated sights like OnlyFansRex Features

She was carefully guided by her beloved parents; mum Carole styled her shoots, and her dad John, a carpenter, became her manager.

But Sam claims that models these days aren’t given the right guidance and show far more than she ever did on X-rated sites such as OnlyFans.

She says: “If I had a daughter I would not let her go into the business now.

“The photographers probably promise them the world; start them off doing topless pictures, and by the end of it have their knickers off.

“Girls are wearing G-strings and doing sexual poses, and have their legs open.

“There are no big glamour agencies any more, so the girls can easily get conned.

“A lot of them are young girls who come to London thinking it’s all great and it’s just not.”

Sam continues: “The new kind of glamour girls of today are the people from Love Island.

“I just hope these young girls have strong bonds with their families and are looked after.

“Because without a really good modelling agent, with things like OnlyFans, they can be pushed into doing a lot more rude stuff.

‘Freddie made me cool’

“They are being promised that if they do this, they will get millions of followers and they are going to make loads of money.

“It’s more of a game now, people promise more money if you do more things.”

Gety – ContributorSam and Freddie shared the limelight after the Queen frontman asked her to join him on stage[/caption]

Sam admits it was a battle to win over her peers after launching herself as a singer in 1986, when she released her biggest pop hit Touch Me.

It was only after late Queen frontman Freddie Mercury asked her to sing with him on stage that same year that she felt accepted.

She says: “When I first started out with singing it was hard.

“I remember the DJ Chris Tarrant scratching my record live on the radio.

“He said, ‘What a load of rubbish, this is never going to go anywhere, it’s probably not even her on the record.’

“Even though it went to No1 in 17 countries where nobody even knew me, and then it went to the top five around the world, people in the UK still didn’t take me seriously.

“But then I went to a Queen anniversary after-party.

“Kim Wilde, Annie Lennox, Duran Duran, every major pop star at that time was there.

“Freddie was doing a mini Queen gig and said, ‘Come on, Sam, let’s sing. I love you.’

“I got on stage, and we were dancing, just having a great time.

“Then the next day there was a picture of us on the front page of every newspaper.

“Sam singing with Freddie Mercury. It went all over the world.

“I gained a lot of respect. Everyone thought, ‘If she’s singing with him, she’s got to be good.’

“Freddie made me cool. I still miss him to this day.”

After finding her footing in the world of showbiz, Sam — who had insured her 34D assets for £1million and posed nude for Playboy magazine — became a household name.

She says: “I was on TV, doing business and being taken seriously.

“I was modelling for fashion shoots and competitions and I was a singer.

“Then we had other models like Linda Lusardi, who went on to do acting, and Suzanne Mizzi, who worked as an interior designer and an artist.

“We weren’t just thought of as dumb models.

“We all became celebrities out of it, and a lot of us are still working today.”

Over the years, whispers about Sam’s sexuality circulated and in 2003 she decided to set the record straight, despite fearing her loyal fans might abandon her.

In 2003, Sam announced she was in a gay relationship with her manager, Myra StrattonGetty

She announced she was in a gay relationship with her manager, Myra Stratton, and was relieved when her supporters rallied around her.

Sam says: “I was scared to come out, I had a lot of male fans and didn’t want to lose them.

“There’s not many glamorous, sex symbols who come out as gay.

“I’d never ever been in love with a lesbian before Myra, I’d slept with women but they weren’t lesbians.

“I couldn’t keep covering up, and Myra made me comfortable to come out.

“The fans’ reaction was perfect.

“I had emails from some of the boy fans thanking me.

“They used to have pictures of me up on their walls so their dads would be proud of them, but really they were gay and hiding it.

“I gave them the confidence to come out.”

In 2009, she announced her civil partnership with Myra, but in 2015 her wife passed away after a two-year battle with cancer.

Sam later met mum-of-two Linda Olsen, who is her tour manager.

They live together in East London with one of Linda’s sons.

She says: “I met Linda when I was 49, and it was like I turned 50 and restarted my life again.

“We got married in 2022, and it’s like a new life again.

“People dread their fifties, but I don’t.

“I never had a family of my own before, but now I have her son living in my home.

“I really enjoy it. It was all I ever wanted.”

So what is the secret to Sam’s happy relationship?

“For us it’s doing things together a lot,” she says.

“We love being together 24/7.

“Even when she disappears to the kitchen, I miss her.

“The best relationships out there are the ones that are your best friends.

“If you start arguing in the first few months it’s a no-go, and I always suggest going on holiday with them.”

Now Sam is looking forward to the future, and confesses another nude shoot could be on the horizon.

She says: “Playboy asked me if I would do a shoot with them again when I was 50, and it’s definitely still on the cards.

“Never say never.

“I’m proud of everything I have achieved and I’d do it all over again.”

Watch Sam’s interview in full on the Fabulous YouTube channel