ULRIKA JONSSON
I loved stripping down to my undies and doing sexy lads’ mag shoots that gave dirty men a hot flush
The fact we were labelled 'ladettes' was somewhat infuriating, because we were just women doing our own thing
IT’S hard to imagine for some that this 56-year-old bird once featured on the covers of many a lads’ mag in decades gone past.
But it’s true. I did.
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Recently I was asked how I felt about having been splashed across the cover and centrefold of them.
Had I believed I was being used or objectified?
Had I considered myself cajoled into stripping off with less than a handkerchief to protect my dignity and spare my blushes?
As a feminist, had I felt wronged because the pictures would undoubtedly bring on a hot flush in some filthy minded men?
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The answer has always been, “No. I definitely had not”.
Like many other women who were asked to appear in these magazines, I felt a sense of pride and fun and, moreover, control.
And I’m not alone.
Like many other women who were asked to appear in these magazines, I felt a sense of pride and fun and, moreover, control.
Ulrika Jonsson
Yesterday, The Sun told how Inbetweeners actress Emily Atack, 34, is proud of her lads’ mags shoots — and even has the pictures hung on her wall.
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She defiantly stated: “I did my first lads’ mag when I was about 17.
“I had no problem with it.
Celebrities who have posed nude for World Garden Day
“Everyone has to find you sexy — I was alright with that.
“I’m never going to look like that again — I looked amazing.”
For me, featuring in these magazines was a job, like most other photoshoots many of us undertook at the time.
Except no money changed hands.
They gave you coverage and we posed sexily (or otherwise) for them.
It was a win win.
TV presenter Denise Van Outen, 50, revealed she too “looks back fondly” on her sexy Nineties cover shoots, which helped her become a household name.
Denise told how she was going to use the racy snaps of her on the front of Arena, FHM, Nuts and Loaded as part of her research while working on her autobiography.
She said: “I have no regrets about the shoots.
“They were fun.
“It was very fashionable at the time and I enjoyed all of it.
“I never felt uncomfortable.”
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Neither did I, Denise.
Exuding sexiness
There was always a reputable photographer at the other end of the lens and I was never made to do anything I felt uneasy about.
For one Loaded cover shoot, the stylist presented me with what can only be described as a leather mini bodycon dress. And handcuffs.
As a founding member of the “ladette” generation — I, alongside the likes of the delicious DJs Zoe Ball and Sara Cox — did it almost as a right of passage, an expression of unfettered freedom.
Others may have seen it as a crazy time of our lives — but we were girls who just wanted to have fun.
The fact we were labelled “ladettes” was somewhat infuriating, because we were just women doing our own thing.
We were enjoying ourselves and proving that women are capable of having morals, opinions and wanting sexual equality at the same time as pulling sultry poses in revealing clothes and exuding sexiness.
Why we needed to be referred to as a female version of men seeking fun ground my gears a lot.
It was an opportunity to be a bit more grown up, to be more womanly and sexy.
Rachel Stevens of S Club 7 on her photoshoots.
S Club 7 singer Rachel Stevens, 46, Kelly Brook, 44, and ex Hollyoaks actress Sarah Jayne Dunn, 42, have all spoken of their pride at their lads’ mags days.
Like Emily, Rachel has displayed some of her cover shots at home.
Rachel — who featured on FHM’s annual 100 Sexiest Women list for 11 years before being hailed its sexiest woman of all time in 2014 — said: “I’m super proud of my lads’ mags shoots.
“They were so fun.
“The first cover I shot in 2000 was really exciting.
“I was 22 and the band were so used to being all kiddy, sweet and nice.
“It was an opportunity to be a bit more grown up, to be more womanly and sexy.”
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Model Kelly was the first Brit to top FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women list in 2005.
Posing in the sea in a blue string bikini on that year’s July cover, a cheeky strapline underneath read: “There are three billion women in the world.
“FHM presents the sexiest.”
She made the top ten more times than anyone else.
Fellow Brit Louise Redknapp, 49, was named Sexiest Woman Of The Decade by FHM in 2004.
The ex Eternal singer appeared to give a nod to her lads’ mags days when she shared sizzling throwback snaps on Instagram this year, including one of her on a bed in a thong.
Former Hollyoaks actress Sarah also enjoyed doing the sexy shoots, saying: “I did my first lads’ mag aged 18.
“I loved doing those shoots.”
And actress Michelle Keegan, 37, who found fame in 2007 when she landed the role of Tina McIntyre in Coronation Street, regularly posed for lads’ mags at the time.
The photoshoots were simply good fun and didn’t phase me at all.
I wasn’t promoting any particular sexual practice.
I wasn’t representing what I might do in the bedroom — it was purely a bit of role play, not unlike an actor taking on a new character portrayal.
I loved it because I felt completely in control, I didn’t feel compromised in any way. I was able to express a different version of myself. It was fun, cheeky, titillating.
Sure, I hear those who say it played into the hands of the patriarchy and that it was sexist and perhaps even misogynistic and objectifying.
I hear those who claim it was done purely for the gratification of men.
But I’m afraid I don’t entirely agree.
Why can’t us women enjoy feeling sexy or raunchy in between the drudgery of domesticity, kids and society’s relentless insistence on us to behave?
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I thoroughly enjoy enticing pictures of both men and women and, if someone wants to see it as anything else, by all means crack on.
Like all these other women, I look back at those pictures with a sense of pride and awe and wonder whether I would have the same courage today.
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