Estella Bathory has been a huge porn nerd for a very long time, relishing the hardcore content created by storied directors like Belladonna and Joanna Angel.
Even in her social life, she has long enjoyed a wild lifestyle every bit as sensually liberated as the smut she adored, with a penchant for messy sex and plenty of bodily fluids.
It is true that there aren’t many companies asking for overweight queers with mullets who can’t stop spitting in people’s mouths - but I was never going to fit in properly anyway.
As she ventured into the industry, shooting for big-name studios, at first she felt pigeonholed into neatly arranged categories, donning lingerie and makeup that wasn’t true to her unabashed rawness.
Then, once she came into contact with the indie side of the fence, an entire fan base hungry for authenticity and all manner of filth spread far and wide before her very eyes. Here, at last, was confirmation that she could be whoever the hell she damn well pleased, definitions be damned.
And while she continues shooting for studios, winning awards along the way like her XBIZ Europas trophy for Best Lesbian Sex Scene (alongside Natassia Dreams and Luna Corazon from XConfessions’ “Super Femmes”), and landing all kinds of nominations like 2021 XBIZ Clip Artist of the Year, Bathory has also honed her camming skills to a sharp degree.
Now, as the U.K. Ambassador for CAM4, she is delighting viewers with unadulterated horny good times. To chronicle her barrier-breaking and empowering journey, we are spotlighting Bathory as Cam Star of the Month with this exclusive interview.
XBIZ: What led you to the adult industry?
Bathory: I've always been a huge porn nerd - when I first discovered porn, I was an avid fan of directors like Belladonna, Princess Donna and Joanna Angel. The first porn sites I ever signed up to were Evil Angel and Burning Angel. In more recent years, I’ve also been loving the directing styles of Bree Mills, Craven Moorehead, Proxy Paige, Nikki Hearts and Angel Long.
My friends always find it crazy that I have an encyclopedic knowledge of performers, directors and companies - I just fucking love porn so much. Since I’ve made the leap, I’ve been super lucky to work in production as well as performing, and production/directing really is where my passion lies.
Every time I do a bar crawl around Soho, I buy an old porn DVD from a seedy underground sex shop - I’ve got a handful of 70s German piss porn DVDs, and I’ve been really getting into 80s porn directors like Paul Vatelli (I’m a sucker for 80s movies). I’m so fascinated by that world.
I held off on making the move to adult entertainment until I was 24 though, as I’d been mostly working with animals and pursuing a career in biomedical science - I love these things too, but I realized that I was never going to have the freedom I truly wanted. Sometimes you just have to stop trying to be someone you’re not. I also didn’t think there would be a place for me in porn, but when you want something hard enough, you kind of make it happen.
XBIZ: As a star with experience shooting for major studios, what lessons have proven helpful to camming?
Bathory: Camming is always a huge learning curve, and the direct interaction with the audience is a completely different experience to shooting a scene. I used to dabble in camming when I was at university before I started porn - I’d just fire up the built-in low res webcam on my netbook, it was totally grainy and the light was orange, and I’d just talk to these horny perverts at 2 a.m., show them my cunt and make some money. It was hot as fuck.
I was an absolute filthbag at the time, on the weekends I’d go to the metal bar in Camden and get my cunt eaten in the disgusting toilets; my webcamming was just another fun, grimy way I liked to get off.
It’s so interesting coming back to camming now in a professional manner, with a knowledge of camera angles and lighting, and whilst I remain as authentic as I can, it is undeniable that I have developed a performance style - I know how to use my perversions to put on a proper show now. Also, without porn sets, I would never have learned how to make myself squirt.
XBIZ: How did you get involved with CAM4 as their U.K. Ambassador?
Bathory: It was very quick actually - my friend Ava Austen introduced them to me and I took part in one of their “Happy Hour” shows (alongside CAM4 utter babes Piggy Mouth, Louise Lee and my friend Adreena Winters), and a few days later we were negotiating our contract. I cannot describe what an honor it is to be noticed and appreciated for what I do, and of course to be entrusted to represent the CAM4 brand.
As well as doing lots of regular shows for CAM4, I’ve been recording a podcast! I’m so excited about it, because it’s something I’ve been wanting to do for so long and I just haven’t had the confidence. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity, because for every episode, I get to sit down with a fascinating person and spend time getting to know them; I love to learn about people and hear their stories, get a feel for their personality and their sense of humor.
I just think people are so special and unique, and the underlying theme of my guests is that we all work in the sex industry - so we have a unique bond. I hope that our conversations make people laugh and smile, and in our current political climate I also hope they serve to enlighten people outside of our industry about who we are.
XBIZ: Besides camming, what other platforms do you produce content on?
Bathory: Of course, I am exclusive to CAM4 for live shows and you can only see me on webcam there! I'm also very active on my OnlyFans for chatting, sexting and custom videos, which has been so much fun.
All of my full-length scenes get uploaded to ManyVids and Modelhub, and you can see loads of scene trailers on my verified Pornhub channel! There’s a lot more to come - I’ve shot so much amazing, raw and authentic content this past year with some incredible people.
XBIZ: What do your fans request from you most often?
Bathory: I mostly shoot pretty hardcore content - I switch both ways, I like a lot of mess and bodily fluids. I’m super orally fixated - sliding something deep down my throat and making myself gag and retch turns me on like crazy. It turns me on even more doing it to someone else. As a result of this, my fans request so much gagging and spit stuff, which is awesome! I love the loss of oxygen/whoozy feeling from face-fucking and I love the physical mess and grossness of spit.
I shoot a lot of lesbian domination, and strap on with all genders - so if there’s someone with me, they’ll often want me to top them in some way. I’m also very open about my foot fetish - so that gets requested a lot.
I’m really, really thankful that I seem to have collected a fanbase who like the same weird shit that I do, because I’ve done a few vanilla scenes in the past that weren’t really “me” and now I only shoot stuff, or do stuff in my cam shows, which I like and have fun doing! I think people can sense authenticity.
XBIZ: How do you balance a consistent camming schedule with real-life responsibilities and leisure?
Bathory: As a person who co-exists with various mental illnesses I’ve struggled with routine my entire life, so I’m always learning new ways to manage. The biggest things that have changed my life are choosing a job that I am so passionate about, so I want it more than I want to fail. I used to spend most of my day in bed and now I get up early, I make a green smoothie, I go outside, I go on my laptop and work. It doesn’t happen every day, but because I’ve got my career to work for - I’ve got to a point in my life where my good days outweigh my bad ones.
When I started my new role at CAM4, it was perfect timing, I was ready to take on the extra workload. On CAM4, I do two feature shows per month - I usually book another performer to join me for a hardcore show because I’m at my best when I can bounce off another person’s energy. Occasionally, I’ll do solo and we’ve been experimenting with split screens, which is a good way to get people involved who are further away or isolating due to COVID - coming up soon for my birthday week, we are doing a crazy six-girl splitscreen show!
XBIZ: Discuss how you've grown, professionally and personally, thanks to the adult industry.
Bathory: Rejection is important. Putting myself out there again and again and being prepared for rejection has been one of the most character building experiences I could have asked for. I often hear people say that the adult industry has given them an opportunity to explore their sexuality - but personally, as someone who has always been sexually liberated, I've felt very stifled by the heteronormative nature of the industry. I also think it can be extremely toxic on a personal level; colleagues can be cruel.
Choosing a career where I have to constantly put myself out there, and present my personality and body as a product is a challenge that feels like nails down a chalkboard. I love to be challenged, I love to grow as a person, I love to do shit that terrifies me. It's been really difficult at times, but I've made the most of every opportunity I get and refused to give up. So yes - I have made personal growth due to the adult industry - but maybe not for the reasons you would expect.
XBIZ: What is the "Estella Bathory" brand, if you had to describe your overall vibe, aesthetic and reputation?
Bathory: Unpolished and gross, “Estella Bathory” is just me these days. Life's too short. When I started in porn I held my personality and style back a lot because I didn’t think that there was a place for me in porn - I’d get booked by companies and go buy lingerie sets that I don’t even like and would never wear otherwise, do my makeup and hair, avoid tweeting anything too weird and be a normal hot girl.
As I came into contact with more and more indie content creators who are unapologetically themselves, and had never shot for a company - aka never felt the pressure to fit in - I thought to myself, “What the fuck am I doing?” I’m fucking hot and weird and cool and maybe my audience actually wants me for that. I’d go have filthy sex with hands down my throat and someone’s Doc Martens on my face on the weekend, and then turn up to a company shoot with a boring lingerie set trying to be cleancut and vanilla. It made absolutely no sense. It is true that there aren’t many companies asking for overweight queers with mullets who can’t stop spitting in people’s mouths - but I was never going to fit in properly anyway. Since I’ve had the courage to show my day-to-day self through “Estella,” my career is stronger than it’s ever been.
In terms of reputation, that’s not for me to say - but I try to be sincere, reliable and supportive of my community and my peers.
XBIZ: Describe what it was like winning an XBIZ Europas award for your scene with Luna Corazon and Natassia Dreams in XConfessions' "Super Femmes" movie?
Bathory: It's amazing, but pretty surreal. I've been rejected by most of the companies and agencies in Europe for years - purely because there just hasn't been a market for my body type - so I shoot for mainstream companies less and get fewer opportunities to be nominated than my peers. To be nominated in a “normal” category, let alone win, is exactly what I've been aiming for.
Previously, I've won two awards, which I am deeply thankful for - they both say “BBW” on them. Whilst I fully embrace the term for traffic purposes, I refuse to be limited by it. My sexuality isn't defined by one search term. I am so thankful to be taken seriously in mainstream categories. I'm thankful that my resilience has paid off, and I'm determined to continue carving out an inclusive space. I’m here, I sell and I’m ready to work.
I’d also like to say what an honor it is to share that award with my friend Natassia Dreams, the first trans woman to be nominated and win in the lesbian category at XBIZ.
XBIZ: Any exciting plans or major ambitions this year, career-wise?
Bathory: This year I hope I can take some time for directing my passion projects!! I’ve always struggled with my confidence as a filmmaker, and I really admire people who have that self-belief. I’m figuring out that it’s better to be imperfect than to make nothing at all, and keeping things simple with my self-produced and self-starring content has really helped me get more comfortable with putting my work out there. Receiving the nomination of Clip Artist of the Year at XBIZ L.A. this year was such an honor, and it really drives me to step my game up more - both in front of and behind the camera.
In terms of performing ... there are so many companies and queer performers I would love to work with, most of which are out in the States; I’m lucky to be a dual citizen, so I’ll be travelling back to L.A. and Vegas a.s.a.p. My dream companies to work for are probably Kink.com, Pure Taboo, Burning Angel and Evil Angel. Some of these big names can feel pretty out of reach, but when I think back to a year ago, doing what I'm doing now felt pretty out of reach too.
