Birmingham engineering student earns £3,000 a month ditching studies for OnlyFans and says ‘it’s a journey’

An adult content creator from Birmingham who dropped out of university to post racy content on OnlyFans is now earning £3,000 a month. Caramel Baba, 25, was studying for a degree in automotive engineering at Coventry University before he started posting on the X-rated website in 2022.

The content creator, who said he was motivated by a “lack of representation” of gay Asian men in the industry, now posts content on MintStars, another adult video sharing platform. But Caramel, who comes from a Muslim family, says his lucrative career has left him “isolated” from some friends and family.

However, he said he was able to find people with similar experiences on social media — an online community he says saved his life. Caramel told PA Real Life: “I definitely feel a lot more empowered about myself… (it’s) really helped me become more confident and open.”

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In February 2022, while in her final year of college, Caramel decided to start posting on OnlyFans. He said he was motivated by the lack of representation of gay Asian men in the sex industry and the media as a whole.

He told PA: “I can take time off when I want to take time off, I don’t have to approve a time off from anyone. I definitely feel a lot more empowered about myself.

“I’ve been through a journey – there were times when it felt uncomfortable at first, but it’s something I’ve had to address, like shame and also not seeing my body as an enemy . And that’s what really helped me become more confident and open.”

Caramel had not yet officially come out to his family when he started posting content on the site. In 2023, he decided to tell them and his wider community, something he found “very isolating”. “I think there’s such a big generation gap,” he said.

“Even if you try to explain it to them, they don’t fully understand it. It’s very isolating because almost as soon as you get out, that’s it, you’re out.”

Caramel said the reaction she’s gotten from friends has been “more positive” — and that she’s found a community of people on social media who are going through similar experiences. “I’m lucky to have them, even though I have a lot less (friends) because I think they scare a lot of people,” he said.

In August 2023, Caramel decided to leave OnlyFans and join MintStars, a sex-positive content platform. He said he can now make even more money because the platform only takes 5% of subscriber payments, compared to OnlyFans which takes 20% of creators’ earnings. Caramel now earns £3,000 a month.