MEGAN Barton Hanson says trolls who have attacked her since relaunching her Only Fans account have too “much more time on their hands”.
The Love Island star rejoined the popular website to try and her fans up while they are in coronavirus lockdown.
But Megan, 26, has exclusively told HOAR Online she did not expect to receive so much hate for her decision.
She said: “Since the COVID-19 outbreak, everyone’s life has been turned upside down – it’s a really worrying time.
Megan believed because were feeling “frustrated and helpless” because they can only stay home, they have “much more time on their hands”.
The model added: “As a result, I’ve had a lot more negativity in my direct messages. It’s sad as most of it is based around my choice to reactivate my Only Fans account. I’ve had so much abuse for it.”
The former Love Island finalist is charging £19-per-month or £53 for three months for users to view her content.
Megan pointed out that it wasn’t that long ago that Caroline Flack took her own life after relentless online trolling.
She said: “People forget that it was only a few months ago that Caroline [Flack] passed and everyone was saying ‘be kind’ and preaching the ‘be kind’ message.”
“The feeling of uncertainty due to the coronavirus has resulted in tensions in people’s personal lives, it’s just gone back to square one again, which is really upsetting.”
Her solution to stop online bullying was to follow the rule that “if you wouldn’t say something to someone on the street in real life… don’t say it through social media”.
Megan said: “You wouldn’t for example go up to them and say that you don’t like their hair, criticise their career choices or what they’re wearing.”
“If you have nothing nice to say, don’t saying anything at all.”
She can’t help but be surprised by the response, given how honest she has been about her past work in the sex work industry.
Megan said: “The abuse I’ve had recently for opening up my Only Fans account again has surprised me, even though the very first thing I said when I walked into the villa was ‘yeah, I’ve worked in the sex industry but I’m not ashamed of it, so don’t try and shame me for it because it is a part of me’.”
“I’ve had so many people put me down, which is sad considering I’ve spoken so much about women’s empowerment and letting women do what they want with their bodies.”
But the reality star is tough and won’t let the hate bring her down.
Megan said: “I’ve become very thick-skinned. From a young age, I’ve had to deal with people judging my surgery, for example, or my career choices.”
“So I’ve built up a tolerance to it. I just think ‘why are you wasting time caring about me?’,”
She added: “As long as I’m happy and my friends and family are happy, I don’t care.”
“If you want to dye your hair pink or go out and do whatever, do you. I think people just need to concentrate on themselves rather than attack others.”
Only Fans is popular with social media stars who are keen to share X-rated content that they can’t get away with on other platforms such as Instagram.
And Megan is somewhat of an expert as she first used Only Fans around the time she shot to fame on Love Island back in 2018.
However, after making it to the final of the ITV2 show with her then boyfriend, Wes Nelson, Megan stepped away from the site for a while.
Her latest stint on Only Fans comes after she revealed she was giving away free sex toys in order to combat boredom at home as people self-isolate.
Taking to her Instagram page, the Ann Summers ambassador shared a video of herself alongside a picture of a lingerie set, two sex toys, cleansing wipes, and lubricant.
Dressed casually in a black jumper and eye-catching padlock necklace, Megan told fans: “Hi everyone! What a weird and crazy week this has been.
“I’ve been speaking to the team at Ann Summers and thinking of a way we can help everyone now we have more time on our hands.”
She continued: “Some of us will be spending more time alone, but the lucky ones will be spending more time with a partner – time that we don’t usually get. At Ann Summers, we wanted to help the best way we know how.”
