Julia Roberts put on a bikini in March, walked outside in Beaconsfield and climbed into a pothole.
It was freezing. That was the point.
The 50-year-old automotive journalist filmed herself doing a Baywatch-style pose next to a crater on Gravely Way in Buckinghamshire as part of a campaign she’s been running against what she calls the “dreadful state” of UK roads.
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The clip has been viewed more than 34,500 times.
Her wider pothole content has hit 15 million views across social media.
“I’ve used humour not to make light of a serious issue but to hopefully raise a smile from the millions of drivers, riders and pedestrians that have already been affected by the totally unacceptable state of our roads,” Roberts told Creatorzine.
£500 tyres destroyed in three weeks
Roberts isn’t just making videos. She’s paying the repair bills.
She bought a new pair of rear tyres in December for just over £500.
Within three weeks, one of them was ruined after hitting a pothole that broke the tyre wall.
A brand new tyre, destroyed by a road surface that was supposed to have been maintained.
“These potholes and failed road surfaces aren’t just costing motorists millions of pounds on repairs but even more importantly they are incredibly dangerous too,” she said.
“We need resurfacing, not bodge job patching that doesn’t work.”
Her frustration is aimed squarely at councils that she says keep spending money on temporary fixes that fall apart within weeks, rather than properly resurfacing damaged roads.
“We are expected to pay for an MOT to ensure our vehicles are safe for the roads,” she said.
“But I don’t see local authorities being held to account for not having roads safe for our vehicles.”
The bikini got people’s attention
Roberts is a presenter and automotive enthusiast who knows how to generate a reaction.
The bikini stunt was calculated. A middle-aged woman standing in a pothole in swimwear on a freezing day in Buckinghamshire is not something people scroll past.
The comments confirmed the approach worked. “Will councils start calling them Lidos and charge you when you go in one?” one viewer asked.
“Starting to make potholes desirable,” wrote another.
A third offered practical advice: “You forgot the rubber ducky, Julia.”
Others praised the method. “Brilliant message, and superb way to get it across,” one commenter wrote.
Why it matters
Pothole content is a genuinely growing niche on UK social media, which says something both about the state of the roads and the appetite for content that channels everyday frustration into something watchable.
Roberts’ campaign works because it combines a real issue with a visual that demands attention.
Fifteen million views across her pothole content is a number most creators would struggle to reach with polished, planned series.
She’s reaching it by standing in holes in the road.
For creators covering local issues, consumer rights or automotive content, Roberts’ approach is a template.
Pick a problem people already care about, present it in a way they haven’t seen before and let the comment section do the amplifying.
The issue sells itself. The bikini just gets people through the door.
UK councils spent an estimated £1.1 billion on road repairs in recent years, with motoring organisations consistently warning that the backlog of maintenance is growing rather than shrinking.
Roberts’ campaign isn’t going to fix that on its own.
But 15 million views suggests she’s found an audience that agrees with her.
Whether Beaconsfield’s roads improve remains to be seen.
Roberts, presumably, has warmer content planned for summer.
