What 80s glamour models did next – from selling 30m records to dating Eric Clapton & jail time for money laundering
THEY were pin-ups for a generation of adoring fans - but what happened to our best-loved glamour models when they moved on from Page 3?
The former icons of the 80s have gone on to have celebrity partners, successful pop careers and model for Vogue.
Linda Lusardi, 63, has revealed she’d tell her younger self to seek fame as an actress instead of posing for Page 3.
She said: “I was young and enjoying life and it was a very different time. It was everywhere. It was a great career and I am where I am now because of it.
“I found acting late in life, though, and I may have made a career from it if I’d come to it earlier.”
But she’s not the only former glamour girl to carve out a new career for herself. We investigate what the stars of the 80s did next.
Linda Lusardi
She regularly tops polls of Britain’s favourite glamour girls - but Linda now says she wishes she’d tried to break into acting first.
She launched her career as a topless model in 1976 - and three decades on was voted the Best Page 3 Girl of all time.
After leaving the paper she went for her dreams and sought out a career as an actress.
Linda, now 63, joined the Emmerdale cast as Carrie Nicholls in 2007, the ex-girlfriend of Tom King and the mum of his secret daughter, Scarlett - and left in 2008.
She’s also appeared on The Bill, Hollyoaks and Brookside.
A keen cook, Linda won Celebrity Come Dine With Me in 2008, and came in sixth on Dancing On Ice earlier that same year.
She also reached the final five in the 2011 series of Celebrity MasterChef.
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Onstage she has starred as Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion at the Malvern Festival and in various other productions, including more than 25 pantomimes.
Last year, fans were relieved to hear she had recovered from Covid-19 after spending 10 days in hospital fighting the virus.
Sam Fox
After her Sun debut in 1983, Samantha Fox became one of the UK’s most famous women.
Sam, 55, was the first girl to be signed on an exclusive four-year deal and worked on all sorts of shoots for the paper.
She said: “I did Page 3 but also loads of fashion and swimwear shoots.
“I promoted Sun bingo and the paper even made pillow cases with my face on that readers could buy.”
Her newfound fame opened doors and she launched a successful singing career.
Sam sold over 30million records with songs including her 1986 hit single Touch Me.
She sung with Freddie Mercury, cracked America and still tours today.
The former pop star is engaged to Norwegian mum-of-two Linda Olsen, 46.
It comes four years after the sad death of her beloved partner Myra Stratton, who she was with for 12 years.
Kathy Lloyd
Model Kathy Lloyd, 54, rose to fame at the age of 18 in 1986 after becoming a glamour girl for The Sun.
The pretty brunette was popular with readers and was named Page 3 Girl Of The Year three times in 1986, 1990 and 1994.
Her natural beauty was also spotted by a series of stars.
She dated Eric Clapton in the early 1990s before she’s said to have had a brief romance with Take That's Jason Orange around 1995.
Now she has happily settled down with her current partner Lee Anderson and daughter Lola, nine.
She now records music of her own with her husband under the moniker Lee Anderson and The L.A. and the duo’s songs Never Give Up and Lover Like You have been listened to millions of times on Spotify.
Her Instagram shows she still leads an enviable life jetsetting to glamorous locations around the globe including St Tropez in France and Barbados.
Tracy Kirby
After giving up modelling Tracy Kirby thought that working as a currency courier would be a lucrative move.
But, in reality, the job really involved moving cash for an international drugs ring.
Tracy - who was a Page Three staple in the 1980s - was arrested for money laundering and spent two years in Holloway prison.
She wrote a book about her experience inside called Model Prisoner.
Tracy, now 52, now works as a furniture upholsterer and lives in Essex with her husband Dennis Arif, 64, and their teenage daughter Tyler-Blue.
She said: “Prison was a world away from my Page Three days - travelling to all these glamorous locations and getting an invite to every A-list event.”
Nina Carter
Nina became one of the most successful models of her time after finding fame on Page 3.
She formed the pop duo Blonde On Blonde alongside fellow glamour girl Jilly Johnson.
The band scored a Number 1 in Japan and their cover of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love was a radio staple in the early 80s.
Nina went on to pose for Vogue and appear in the celebrated Pirelli Calendar.
She starred in commercials for cigars and Martini and in 1984 married Yes keyboard player Rick Wakeman in 1984.
Nina, now 69, went on to run her own cosmetics company and developed a range of jumpers.
She divorced from Wakeman in 2004 after 20 years of marriage but found love again with plastic surgeon Douglas Harrison.
Maria Whittaker
Middlesex-born Maria, 52, made her Page 3 debut back in 1969.
She soon became one of the most popular models to appear in the feature and was named Page 3 Girl Of The Year in 1989.
Her new fame opened doors and she had a brief acting career.
In 1986, she appeared in the movie version of Whoops Apocalypse and she made her second screen appearance in the film Tank Malling in 1989.
In 1990, Whittaker formed the band Rhythm Zone, who are known for the song Stop Right Now.
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She is married to a fellow musician - British jungle producer DJ Congo Natty - who calls her his "Queen".
She now goes by Maria Tafari and now works as a nutritionist, selling weight loss juices.