Gay Olympic champion Matthew Mitcham explains racy new OnlyFans career: ‘My body, my choice’
Matthew Mitcham became the first out gay male athlete to win an Olympic gold medal at Beijing 2008. (Getty)
Former Olympic champion Matthew Mitcham has opened up about why he turned to OnlyFans, and why athletes shouldn’t be ashamed of doing so.
Mitcham, who became the first out gay male athlete to win an Olympic gold medal when he represented Australia in the individual 10m platform diving event at Beijing 2008, launched his racy OnlyFans page in 2023.
The now-retired athlete, who came out publicly as gay shortly before appearing at the Olympics and has since married his partner Luke Rutherford, has kept the page going strong since then, even inspiring fellow divers to follow suit.
In an opinion piece for The Telegraph, Mitcham has explained why people should be less “prudish” when it comes to athletes getting their kit off – and that another stream of income is often needed for professional sportspeople.
“I’ve invested a lot of time and effort in my body. If people want to see it, I’d be stupid to give it away for free,” Mitcham wrote of his OnlyFans page.
“Yes, some might ask, ‘Why give it away at all?’ But my answer to that would be, ‘my body, my choice’ and just like any project you’ve worked hard on, it’s natural to be proud and want to show it to people.”
Mitcham then explained that a lot of the draw to make an OnlyFans page comes from the need to supplement one’s income as an ex (or indeed current) athlete.
“My personal earnings as an athlete dipped and climbed unpredictably. Funding was [based] entirely on how you performed at the benchmark event of the previous year, whether that be the Olympics or World Championships, and if you didn’t compete because of injury, or you had one bad dive and didn’t medal, then things could get very difficult.”
When he launched his page, the diver clarified that he would not be “performing sexual acts” on the platform, but that Matthew would indeed be getting his Mitcham out.
His husband, Luke Rutherford, was already an established presence on OnlyFans before Mitcham launched his page, with the Olympian making a ‘cameo’ on Rutherford’s page before setting up his own.
Team GB’s divers have since followed suit, with five of its athletes on OnlyFans, including silver Olympic medallist Noah Williams and former champion Jack Laugher. They have all clarified that they would not be sharing nude images.
