Original Magazine
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Lover Management
Original Magazine: Lets begin with your job role within ‘Lover Management’ and what your role entails.
Helena Whittingham: I’m the director and founder of Lover Management LTD, a talent management and creative agency specializing in intimacy and the erotic. I handle everything from managing client bookings to outreach, helping them achieve their goals, PR and/or administrative tasks like contracts and invoicing. Our work spans various industries: one client might be writing a book, another might be on a casting or doing online content for a brand deal, while another might be hosting a workshop. What ties them together is a shared focus on sex, eroticism, and intimacy at the core of their (and our) work.
In addition to the above, we also produce in-house events through our 'Lover Presents' series, which showcases the incredible talent on our roster. Our most recent event featured Vex Ashley giving an artist talk at the Institute of Contemporary Arts. It was a fantastic opportunity to highlight Vex's artistry, and personally, I loved how it beautifully bridged the worlds of art and sexuality—two areas I’m deeply passionate about.
Our current roster includes Vex Ashley / Four Chambers Scotty Unfamous One night in parties/ Miss Gold Sexology Girl Poppy Scarlett BloggerOnPole Kitty Underhill -Gigi Engle - Vanilla Cool Dance
Pamela Blonde - Miss May - Polyphilia Cliterallythebest - Noelle Perdue - Playful Magazine
Image of Helena Whittingham by Anna Sampson
O.M: How did start Lover management and what was the reason behind starting the management?
H.W: My background is actually in galleries, and I founded Lover in 2019 after a career in the arts. I then briefly worked for a celebrity DJ management company, which liquidated after six months whilst I was on holiday in Paris. I decided to set up Lover the very next day because I loved the industry. It was a risk, but it’s one of the best decisions I've ever made. Initially, I worked with friends in the entertainment industry who needed management, from club nights to meme pages. Over time, I realised there was a gap in the market for management specializing in the sex industry, I naturally gravitated towards this space because it's where my interest lies. Many of my current clients had faced rejection from other managers because of their work in the sex industry, which I find is incredibly unfair. I feel so fortunate to work with these boundary-pushing, creative individuals and celebrate them for what they do. I love my job and it brings me so much satisfaction (no pun intended!). Globally, we are the SEX-iest agency - literally haha.
O.M: Is it difficult to post content across your socials? And if so, how do you combat Instagrams/meta’s sensitive guidelines? As we noticed on lover management link tree, you have a spreadsheet of deleted instagram posts dating back to 2022!
H.W: All hot people are shadowbanned!
Image by Issey Gladston
…But yes, Instagram and TikTok are definitely where we face the most censorship, both for ourselves and our clients. We semi-regularly meet with Meta to stay informed on their guidelines and how to avoid being deleted, alongside external research and ‘algorithmic gossip’; being aware of what works for who. It’s frustrating, but we try to approach it as a creative challenge. In fact, I even offer workshops on navigating these restrictions, which I present at places such as porn festivals. The spreadsheet you mentioned stems from our #StopDeletingUs campaign against Meta, which we launched with Klub Verboten and our client Blogger On Pole (Dr. Carolina Are) and others in the UK scene. This happened after a mass deletion of accounts from our scene with no warning. The campaign received substantial press coverage which led to the reinstatement of many accounts, and Carolina continues to advocate on behalf of the community.
O.M: Other than your content being deleted, banned and censored across social media, what other obstacles has lover management had to overcome?
H.W: Aside from social media censorship, we’ve faced challenges with other platforms as well. Both my clients and I have had issues with bank accounts and even WhatsApp accounts being deleted, which can be incredibly frustrating and disruptive to our work. Censorship is insidious and worms its way into unexpected crevices, but we are resilient.
Image by Issey Gladston
O.M: Massive congratulations to you all for your incredible collaboration with Sinéad O’Dwyer during London Fashion Week this season! Tell us more about this collaboration and how it was brought to life?
H.W: Honestly it was a dream collaboration. Sinéad’s show was the perfect example of what we aim to do: hiring our clients for their skills, not sensationalizing their work, but celebrating and humanizing them. Collaborating with Emma Matell on this show was such an honor, and her presentations are always known for their diversity. This show featured a majority SWer (sex worker) lineup, and we were brought on to help cast this. The final lineup included talents like Vex Ashley of Four Chambers, MilkMaiden from Sexquisite Events, Sabrina Jade of East London Stripper Collective, among others. Each performer brought a raw, authentic portrayal of intimacy to the presentation, making the show a powerful representation across the board.
O.M: What was the response/feedback like from the Sinéad O’Dwyer show?
H.W: There was some controversy, particularly in the comments on Dazed’s Instagram, which caught me off guard. But overall, the feedback was positive. The models did an incredible job, as did the whole team, and the show received a great deal of press coverage.
O.M: How do you cast the right people, models, influencers for clients? Do you then get intimacy coaches/co-ordinators?
H.W: For this show, Grace Nicols was brought in as the intimacy and movement coach, ensuring the performers felt supported. When casting or booking people for jobs, we draw from our industry knowledge and connections, ensuring the talent fits the brief and the talents goals.
Still images from Sinéad O’Dwyer Show: Daise Jacobs
O.M: What do you look for when signing new clients?
H.W: When signing new clients, I always ask myself if Lover can help them in a meaningful way. Whether it’s producing events, securing press, or handling brand collaborations and admin I want to make sure we can really add value. Then there are the practical considerations like audience demographics and engagement stats; for example if you’re wanting to work with lots of sex toy brands you’d likely need a high amount of women followers etc. I’m looking for exceptional voices in the sex industry, and our current roster reflects that fully. I adore working with them all!
O.M: How much work is out there for your clients and how niche is this market?
H.W: There’s actually a lot of work out there for our clients! Brands often struggle with censorship themselves, especially on platforms like Google Ads, so they rely on our clients to help promote their products in creative ways. & outside of that there's always lots of panels/podcasts/ things of that nature that want to hear what people in the sex industry have to say.
O.M: When you book clients for a job, what are the safety precautions/protocols?
H.W: On our end, we focus on providing an extra level of care for our clients. Having specialised in this area we know what may get our clients banned from IG for example, or what PR would be bad PR, and we have to push back on that to protect them. We make sure they’re not being portrayed in a fetishistic or sensationalized way and carefully vet the projects/brands to ensure they align with ours, and our clients values. There's definitely challenges but I'm so passionate about this area that we find ways around most obstacles, and the end result is magic. Sex Workers to the front, always.
Image by: Layla Kosima