Welcome back to Model Citizens — our interview series where we put the spotlight on some of our top Models and have them share their thoughts on the industry and tidbits about themselves.
Since we partnered up with June Liu, a.k.a. SpicyGum, for the blog post on Singles Day, we decided to pass the mic over to her and find out how she became one of our top Models on Modelhub, what inspired the name SpicyGum, and the obstacles she’s had to face along the way.
Tell us about how you got started in the industry and with Pornhub?
I always have this little thought that I could make porn videos as a part-time hobby. I watched a lot of porn and I have always been attracted by those beautiful girls showing themselves confidently. It’s a very enjoyable side job for me, even without the income — having pleasure while making money, what a good deal!
Everything started from uploading a short blow job video on Pornhub. I wanted to give it a try with a video that I had filmed during my vacation. The quality was quite low, but it was only for fun, so I didn’t think too much about it.
When I uploaded my second video, it was featured on Pornhub and things just got better and better. This video went viral and gave me the ambition to become a real pornstar. During this time, I was given advice from other experienced amateurs and producers like ZIAxBITE, and I also spent a lot of time reading articles about the adult industry. Moreover, one of my partners, who is also one of my best friend and sex friend, helped me a lot on every tasks.
How did your upbringing influence your attitude toward your work?
This is an interesting question. Considering my Chinese background, my parents have already tried to be open-minded, but they still have a strong desire to control my personal life. My mom pushed me too hard when I was a kid. I was a good student, but she always wanted more. She’s like the mom in the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, who always pushes her daughter to be at the top. Even after so many years of self-reconstruction, I still have anxiety over not being the best. After decades of feeling repressed, I just want one thing — freedom.
For me, being an Model is like having a normal job. I don’t hurt anyone and I bring joy to this world like the fairy godmother. I’m a kind of therapist helping horny people. I feel alive doing this.
How do you come up content ideas? What are some of your favorite videos you’ve filmed and why?
Most of the time, it involves me discussing some of my sexual fantasies with my partner and him giving me advice. My favorite video is actually the very first one. It is a little bit cheap comparing to others, but I look very natural in it. My partner shot it during a random blow job and he said he wanted to show off to his best friend. We were talking nonsense in this video, so it actually recorded some funny moments.
It’s one of the reasons why I do porn. It’s kind of like recording your personal diary. I will always be young in the video, even one day after I’m gone, people can still see me as the young and pretty me and admire me. Thinking about it makes me really love this job.
How do you deal with criticism online?
If it’s because of a misunderstanding, I try to explain it, but if it’s pure hate, I will simply ignore them and focus on my real fans. I have to recognize that sometimes my mind is not mature enough to fully ignore all of those bad comments, although, I do understand it’s useless to spend energy on it. I am still learning.
Why the name June Liu and SpicyGum? What’s the story behind them?
June Liu is really simple —it’s my formal English name.
SpicyGum is actually my nickname I started to use a long time ago, before porn. It is inspired by one of my favorite movies, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. There’s a gum which tastes like roasted beef and tomato soup that can never lose its flavor, and I really loved this image when I was a kid and would like to be this special candy. I want to be everlasting like a gum and I want be an exotic flavor. When my fans need me, I’m the one providing them with some spicy joy, and even after having been chewed by everyone, I’ll remain myself.
What kind of helpful advice can you share with new Models?
New Models should find their own style that matches their persona. Copying other performers isn’t very helpful. Moreover, new models should use the Pornhub community which is very efficient to find other Models who are ready to collaborate!
How do you use the features on Modelhub and Pornhub to your advantage? How to you decide what to sell and what to post for free? How did you grow your fan base?
Doing free short versions of pay videos is a good strategy. Considering the Fan Club, I encourage people to join because it’s super cheap and I update it regularly. Some of my for-sale videos are also published earlier and for free in my Fan Club.
How difficult is for you to produce content in China?
Technically, it is illegal to produce content in China, especially as a Chinese citizen. I could get in trouble with the government if I did, so I have never produced anything in China.
Are you open about your work with some people? How discreet do you have to be? What sort of reactions do you normally get?
I didn’t tell everyone on purpose, but I didn’t try to hide it either. I told some of my friends, and I have to say, although I already knew my friends are open-minded people, I was still surprised by their positive and supportive reactions. Some of them even believe that choosing to be a proud Chinese porn star is brave and progressive. There are certain friends who are also concerned for my well-being and worried I’ll get in a dangerous situation with crazy, narrow-minded people, so I am cautious.
What are some of the biggest misunderstandings people have in China about the porn industry? Is it different from other places? If so, how?
In my opinion, the biggest misunderstanding Chinese people have about the porn industry is that most of them don’t understand that porn is not the full reality. Furthermore, they don’t have this notion of copyright. The misunderstanding is caused by the fact that the porn industry is totally illegal in China. So when people try to find something to please themselves with, they always find some crappy secretly-filmed video or video without copyright. Before, the most popular porn videos in China were private videos leaked by accident, which is immoral and illegal. So when people watch “real” porn, they get confused about the difference between porn and reality.
Besides, many Chinese guys get very upset when they see Chinese girls having sex with other ethnicities, and this is one of the main reasons why some Chinese men don’t like me. They think Chinese women should only have sex with Chinese guys, and if they have sex with anyone who is not Chinese, they’ll label her as an “easy” girl. I’ve been given this label, not because I do porn, but because I’ve had sex with men who aren’t Chinese. This mindset has existed for a long time, and people’s misconception of the porn industry one factor.
The sentencing for producing, selling, and disseminating sexually explicit content could be life in prison. If that’s the case, why do you think it’s worth the risk for some?
Well for me, it is a human right to masturbate, and porn is material that helps with that. How could this become a serious crime? We have to understand that lust is just like the need for food and water — this desire is not something you can erase by law. By banning the supply of porn instead of dealing with the demand and setting laws to protect those in the industry makes way for a black market where there are no age restrictions, no copyright protection, and so on.
Follow June Liu on Twitter and Instagram for photos, videos, and updates on her next project.
Twitter @SpicygumL
Instagram @juneliusp
Comments