Jodie Marsh, who could once command an impressive £30,000 ($37,880) for a single photoshoot, has opened up about how the spotlight eventually faded and left her struggling to make ends meet.
The English media personality, 45, was known for her bold fashion choices and outspoken nature.
Over the years, she transitioned to reality TV and appeared on shows such as Celebrity Big Brother and her own series, Totally Jodie Marsh.
Jodie Marsh opened up about her journey from charging £30,000 ($37,880) for a single photoshoot to being unable to pay her mortgage
“We weren’t millionaires but we weren’t poor,” she told the Daily Mail. “My dad was homeless at 16 and he built up himself from scratch, he came from nothing.”
Jodie’s childhood included having to wash dishes in restaurants at the age of 14 and working in a nightclub a couple of years later.
“I got bullied to hell and back for my outfits because it wasn’t designer. They said I was poor and I was scum. I got ripped to shreds for my cheap outfits,” she recalled.
“So as kids, we never had designer clothes ever or shoes. I bought my first pair of Louboutins when I think I was 35!” she added.
“They said I was poor and I was scum. I got ripped to shreds for my cheap outfits,” recalled the former glamor model about her school days
By the age of 17, she embarked on her journey to become a model but saw her first application rejected by a tabloid.
“They sent me a letter back rejecting me! Thank you, but no thanks,’ she revealed. ‘I was devastated because I’d been bullied at school. They’d all called me ugly for many years,” she told the outlet.
“So in my head, I was like, I’ve got to be a model I’ve got to prove to my bullies that I’m not ugly.”
It took just one Daily Star feature to catapult her into the spotlight. Eventually, the same tabloid that had first rejected her reached out, asking if they could cover her.
Despite having her first modeling application rejected, she soon found fame after a Daily Star feature
“So by then I was 23 and obviously, I’ve never gotten over the rejection and I negotiated my own deal with them… for one photograph, they paid me £30,000. The other girls were getting paid £50 a shoot,” she said.
As time passed, Jodie had someone step in to handle her finances for her. The same person acted as a mediator, negotiating her fee for a high-profile television gig that was supposed to make her £150,000 ($189,470) richer.
“I didn’t see the contract and I got paid £70,000 for that job. 14 years later I found out that I’d actually been paid £150,000 but I just never saw the money,” she said. “This was before everything was digital. There’s probably not even a record of it.”
When her financial struggles increased, she could no longer pay her bills and was completely “skint.” She then decided it would be best for her to take a step back from the limelight.
The English media personality revealed that she was once given just £70,000 for a high-profile gig that had originally offered £150,000 ($189,470)
“I was so fed up, I was getting trolled and people were just being nasty to me all the time, it was just horrible. So I sort of stepped out of the limelight but then it came a point where I couldn’t afford to even pay my mortgage,” she said.
“I couldn’t pay any bills. I was completely skint. I was really in a mess, so I started to read The Secret [a self-help book] and I started doing a gratitude book.”
“I remember writing in the Gratitude book going I I want a brand new Audi Q7 and I remember laughing as I wrote it, because I thought, that’s ever gonna happen – I was on my a** and skint,” she went on to say.
It was around this time that she made her mark in the field of bodybuilding and her life began going uphill once again.
Driven by her passion for animal welfare, Jodie opened Fripps Farm Animal Sanctuary in Essex in 2020
“Two years later, I was champion of American bodybuilding. I smashed it and I walked into the showroom, ordered the brand new latest Q7 special edition with every extra on it, top of the range and I paid cash outright for it,” she shared.
“I cried the whole way driving it home because I was like, I can’t believe this has happened.”
Today, Jodie said she knows how to save money and keep her Fripps Farm Animal Sanctuary in Great Dunmow, Essex, running.
She opened the farm in 2020 and manages the monthly cost of £24,000 with her OnlyFans account and some help from her followers.
“We have these days called sound for a pound, most people can afford that no matter how skint they are, they can afford one pound a month,” she said.
The income from Jodie’s OnlyFans account has played a crucial role in funding her farm and paying her staff
“If there’s an animal in the hospital and it needs treatment and we need to pay the bill, we go on Instagram, tell them what’s happening and they all just give one pouns at a time,” she continued. “If you’ve got 20,000 people giving one pound a month, that’s £20,000 month, and we actually have got that.”
She also manages to make a sizeable amount through her OnlyFans account.
“We needed to put perimeter fencing around the whole entire farm, and that cost £65,000. I funded that entire thing from my OnlyFans,” she said. “For the first year my OnlyFans also paid all my staff. I never took a penny for myself.”
“Now, I probably only make a couple of grand a month on it, because I’ve been really slack on it because I’m so busy with the animals,” she explained.
“But I’m back posting again so that should shoot up again now. Back when I was paying the staff wages I was earning around £10,000 a month.”
Several netizens praised her for the way she has transformed her life and found purpose
