From scorn to porn: OnlyFans star opens up on abandoning ‘toxic’ motorsports
Australian motorsports queen turned OnlyFans model and pornographic actress Renee Gracie says that she is finally doing something that she loves after ditching her racing career in favor of showing some skin online.
At one point, Gracie was heralded as one of the Australia's top high-octane prospects.
Since she was a young teenager, the Brisbane native had dreamed of a career at 100 miles an hour – and she eventually got her wish, earning 48 starts in the Dunlop Super2 Series for a variety of teams. She says her dreams slowly transitioned into a nightmare when she became confronted with the realities of being a woman in a male-dominated sport – and the negative attention she claims she received was crushing.
"When I was racing, I obviously started quite young and spent a lot of time from when I was 13, right up until I was 23, trying to make something out of myself with motorsport in Australia," Gracie told TMZ Sports.
"I left for many reasons. It was a toxic environment for a female. I got treated differently to everybody else. It was just a really taxing environment and industry to be in for my mental health."
The decision to leave, she reflects, was an easy one – but deciding upon something to do next? That was more difficult.
At first, she says she just idled the days by – but after a year of twiddling her thumbs, she decided it was time for some decisive action.
And as she explained, it led to what she refers to as one of the best decisions she ever made.
"I did leave and had about a year or so in between where I wasn't racing, I wasn't doing anything and I didn't know what I wanted to do," said Gracie.
"I was lucky enough that when I left racing, my fanbase actually grew. I had more people following me and I wasn't controlled by managers and sponsors.
"I think people really fell in love with knowing me more personally compared to when I was racing. I started showing more things that I was never able to show when I was racing, showing sexy sides of me."
Then came the inevitable call. "Everyone was telling me that I should join OnlyFans... [but] my goal was never to do what I'm doing now.
"It was more, 'If I can get people to pay to see bikini photos or lingerie photos, I'm down'," she explained.
"So I started my OnlyFans and it blew up and went crazy and turned into what it is now; a very successful page."
The transition from the racetrack to becoming one of the internet's most in-demand models is a strange one, she admits – but she says that anyone familiar with her from her former career wouldn't be one bit surprised with her drive and passion for her new day job.
"Everyone who knew me and knew how hard I worked and how hard I really wanted to be something in racing in Australia saw how hard it could get for me sometimes, and would see the highs and lows of it all. I think they're happy for me now," she said.
"They can see that I'm successful and that I'm doing something that I love.
"It just happened to be that motorsport wasn't it and doing OnlyFans and porn is what makes me happy and gives me the success that I always really wanted."
But if there was just one thing she'd do differently?
"I wish I did this sooner."