It’s been a year of firsts for the porn industry. Ofcom implemented age verification laws while Bonnie Blue’s sex ‘records’ barely left national news.
But it seems her efforts failed to truly tantalise the public — at least on the most visited porn site in the world.
The controversial star failed to place within the top five of Pornhub’s 2025 wrap — an annual review that lifts the lid on the porn we’re really watching behind closed doors.
In fact, this year marks the first time in history that a man became the most-searched for porn star on earth.
Alex Adams is his name, and he films porn from his point of view, having sex with women typically roleplaying as his stepsister or stepmother. After climbing seven places in the charts in 2024, he’s climbed a further five this year to clinch the global top spot from Angela White, who’s known for her large breasts.
His success is likely due to the POV category on the platform growing by 53% in popularity this year, as well as still centring women, which appeals to the male gaze.
But for Brits, Angela retained her top spot, with Alex ranking third on the UK’s popular creators list. Who took the UK second place, you ask? None other than Derbyshire’s Lily Phillips.
When it comes to who women watch, Lily again came second, while Bonnie failed to rank at all – something sex and relationship expert Gemma Nice isn’t surprised by.
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‘Lily is for the women, but Bonnie is for the male gaze,’ she tells Metro. ‘Yes, Lily has also done extreme stunts, but she isn’t afraid to be vulnerable and cry when she’s overwhelmed – this makes her relatable.
‘Bonnie provokes her female audience, making her less and less relatable.’
Brits are creatures of habit
While who we’re watching to achieve climax has changed, what gets us off is very much the same.
Our appetite for ‘MILFS’ is indefatigable, with sexy mums retaining the title of the UK’s most searched for sex term on Pornhub. The term ‘lesbian’ again came in second, while ‘British’ again came in third.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, our appetite for British porn was 921% greater than any other country. There were other categories Brits watched more than any other nation, too.
We searched for ‘camel toe’ porn 314% more than anywhere else, as well as ‘fetish’ (115% more) and ‘smoking’ (60% more).
When it comes to our top porn genres, ‘MILF’ again reigned supreme, with 29% more searches in the UK than anywhere else on earth, and ‘lesbian’ came in second, followed by ‘transgender’ rising to claim the number three spot.
Why has trans porn become even more popular? Sexologist Gigi Engle, author of Kink Curious, tells Metro it’s because of the public discourse in the UK about trans identity.
‘The marginalisation of trans rights means it’s become a conversation people are hearing about more often, and they’re becoming more curious,’ she explains. ‘There’s so much demonisation around trans identity, and due to a lot of what we find erotic and sexually appealing being rooted in taboo or transgressive themes – that’s why it’s claimed the third spot.’
Which Brits are watching porn?
Britain has the lowest number of female porn viewers in the world, with ladies making up just a quarter of Pornhub visitors.
Of course, that could be because women are gravitating to ethical porn sites, or indulging in audio porn instead (we aren’t exactly visual creatures after all) but we don’t have the data to prove it.
Gigi believes we’ve spent the past year moving towards audio porn and niche creators, while women are enjoying feminist creators like Erica Lust, and porn sites that centre women.
‘People are also willing to pay creators for niche content to satisfy their kinks, proclivities and interests, rather than watch free stuff,’ she adds.
Despite reports of Gen Z being disinterested in sex, Pornhub’s traffic says otherwise, with this demographic accounting for 47% of all the porn site’s viewership in the UK – this is the third highest ratio in the world behind Egypt (50%) and the Philippines (49%).
Overall, Brits fell three spots to number eight when it came to the countries who visited Pornhub the most, with the US retaining first place by a country mile.
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