Chloe Sims, star of British reality show “The only Way Is Essex,” last year moved to L.A. with her three siblings to try to break into Hollywood — an experience they’ve documented in an original show for OnlyFans‘ free streaming service.
onlyFans generates billions of dollars in revenue, much of it from sexually explicit content. But the social platform also is working to build out the non-porn side of its business, including through OFTV, its free-to-view, safe-for-work streaming platform and app.
The company inked a multiyear deal with Chloe, Frankie, Demi and Charlie Sims, starting with the five-episode first season of “House of Sims,” billed as reality series in the vein of “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.” OFTV this week unveiled the trailer for “House of Sims” (at this link.) whose premiere episode will debut May 3. The remaining episodes will be released weekly on Wednesdays on OFTV.
Why did the Sims sibs go with onlyFans for this project? A big part of it was that the company offered them complete creative control over “House of Sims,” according to Charlie Sims, who spearheaded the deal with OnlyFans. Under the partnership, the family members have created onlyFans accounts, which they’re using to promote the show — and Chloe, for one, said it opened her eyes to how she could monetize social media in a way she couldn’t on Twitter or Instagram.
“I’m British. We have a reputation for being prudish,” she said. “At first I did have some reservations [about joining OnlyFans]… but we’re going to do a good job of showing people that it’s a big platform and there’s a lot more to it.”
Chloe’s onlyFans account is free to follow, but she shares “locked” content (as do sisters Frankie and Demi) that costs $6-$40 per post to access. She said her paid content on onlyFans includes the kinds of photos and videos she’s uploaded to Instagram, featuring her posing in lingerie and swimwear (no explicit nudity). “It’s pretty much the same content I posted for years — but now I own the content,” she said.
“I’m proud to be part of OnlyFans,” Chloe added. “I think people think you have to do explicit things to make money on OnlyFans. It’s probably the biggest thing you don’t realize.”
Chloe and her siblings also plan to share behind-the-scenes moments from “House of Sims” on their onlyFans accounts. In the show itself, “You’re going to see a British family who are packing up from a little village in Essex and moving to America,” Chloe said. “We landed in America completely blind. We had a house for a month, we didn’t know our way around! Even getting a reservation at a restaurant isn’t easy when you’re not famous here. It’s been a bit of humble pie for me.”
The Sims lived in a rented house with a pool in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. Also appearing in “House of Sims” is Georgia Shults, who is Charlie’s fiancée. Charlie said during the filming of the show, some of the family members got homesick; he wouldn’t spill the tea on who wanted to move back to the U.K., noting that will be revealed in “House of Sims.”
“When you take people out of their comfort zone, you see who starts to crack,” he said. “We had this idea to move across the Pond, stay safe and push each other to get where we wanted to get to… The dream was to break into Hollywood. It’s easier said than done.”
The first season of “House of Sims” was shot from October to December 2022, in the U.K. and L.A. The episodes range in length from about 30 minutes to 50 minutes. One of the benefits of producing the show for a streaming platform was that the segments didn’t need to be a specific number of minutes, Charlie noted. The Sims family members serve as producers on the show.
Chloe Sims first joined ITV’s “The only Way Is Essex” in 2011, followed by Demi in 2018 and Frankie in 2019. Last year the siblings announced that they were leaving the show.
Over the last few years, onlyFans has attracted a range of celebrities and other creators to the platform, including Iggy Azalea, Carmen Electra, Denise Richards, Bella Thorne, Bhad Bhabie and comedian Whitney Cummings (who is producing a series of comedy roasts on OFTV). The company says it empowers creators to “take control of their likeness” and “monetize their content in a safe environment on their own terms.”
