If a man wolf-whistles at Rhian Sugden in the street, she smiles back.
She is fully aware that saying so could get her cancelled.
The former Page Three model made the admission on the Option One Podcast, presented by Babestation, while she and co-host Oliver Tompkins argued over whether “sex symbol” is still a compliment or a relic, as reported by Creatorzine.
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Rhian came down firmly on one side.
“I’m not even against catcalling. I could get myself cancelled for that,” she said.
“But if someone whistles to me down the street, I like, maybe it’s a confidence thing, but I give them a quick smile.
“I don’t feel intimidated by that. I just take it all as a compliment.”
She stressed that she was speaking for herself, and that plenty of women feel very differently about strangers whistling at them.
Posters, not spreadsheets
Rhian accepts the sex-symbol label has fallen out of favour. She just doesn’t care.
“I mean, I know a lot of women find it quite degrading or derogatory,” she said.
“They don’t want to be seen as a trophy. But I have to say, I do enjoy it.
“People don’t put posters of me on their wall because I’m good at admin.
“I love a spreadsheet, but that isn’t what’s paying my bills.”
She is equally relaxed about what men do with those posters.
“If someone can say that they think I’m a sex symbol, I enjoy being in people’s fantasies,” she said.
“I like that people are able to think of me and pay my bills at the same time.”
Efficient, at least.
The insecurity behind the smile
The confidence has a less glossy back story.
Rhian says her appetite for attention comes from years of disliking what she sees in the mirror, a habit her career has done nothing to fix.
“I mean, I love it. I hold my hands up. I do like the attention,” she said.
“And I think it comes from being insecure as I’ve grown up. So to lap up the attention feels nice to me.
“It makes me feel better about myself because I go home and I still pick myself to death. I’m like, hate how I look, hate this.
“So to hear other people compliment me on what I’m doing as a job, it feels nice to me.”
Why It Matters
Rhian’s catcalling comments will grab the attention.
Her admission about going home and tearing herself apart is the part more creators will recognise.
When your income depends on people looking at you, praise from strangers stops being a bonus and starts doing the job of self-esteem.
That works until the compliments dry up, or the comments turn.
Page Three vanished from The Sun’s print edition in 2015, but its stars didn’t.
Many now run their own podcasts and subscription pages, where they set the terms and keep the money, and where saying the unpopular thing out loud tends to be good for numbers.
Rhian predicted the backlash herself.
Whether it arrives, and whether she smiles at that too, is another matter.
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