Yes, the rumours are true. After a four-year hiatus, Rebecca Moore is back for a second, slaggier serving of the groundbreaking, high-camp reality show, Slag Wars. Honouring the memory of her larger-than-life co-star Sophie Anderson, who sadly passed away in November last year, Anderson’s legacy lives on in a new crop of unapologetic contestants, joined by new judge and Dragula star, Fantasia Royale Gaga, as well as returning confidant Matt Camp.
The pair initially shot to fame back in 2018, charming the internet with their infinitely quotable and skit-like porn promotion videos under the moniker of The Cock Destroyers. Two years later, the pair would capitalise further on their gay icon status by dropping the show’s first season, providing not only a salve to an otherwise torturously boring lockdown, but also a no-holds-barred platform for queer sex workers to reflect on their lives and careers.
Mixing silly and sexy tasks to rear the ultimate slag with contestants’ candid admissions on trauma, sobriety and the tribulations of sex work, Slag Wars was, of course, an instant hit. But plans for a second season were stalled following a heartbreaking public separation between the Anderson and Moore. Having been poised to reunite for the first time on screen last year, gears shifted after Anderson’s unexpected passing and the production took a new direction for S2, but one that nonetheless feels perfect to Moore. “What I’ve always loved about what I do is having control so you can protect your world,” she tells GAY TIMES. “Slag Wars is exactly how Sophie and I did things – it’s serious yet fucking hilarious and ridiculous at the same time – so over-the-top and brilliant. I love it.”
In conversation with performer and Slag Wars S1 star Cain, who has returned to the production in both a casting and producer role, the pair talk us through welcoming a new cohort of multi-faceted slags into the mix, and the importance of shedding light on their respective journeys with sex work and sobriety.
Congratulations on the triumphant return of Slag Wars – how does it feel for you both to be back on screens in this kind of format?
Rebecca: Obviously there’s mixed emotions from my side, because Sophie [Anderson] was originally supposed to be part of it, but now that it’s a year later from recording, the delight I’ve got from seeing all the slags… That energy is such a beautiful new energy to be seeing. Slag Wars was always about the presenter side of Sophie and I, a platform to give sex workers back a human side to them. Cain, I think you might agree with me here, that’s really a big part of it, there’s so much more to us. There was a lot of apprehension before [the first season] came out, because of how people might receive it if they didn’t know that originally it was meant to be cast with Sophie. Now it’s completely been changed. I ended up hosting it myself and we had to change everything, it’s not about me anymore, it’s about the birth of this fantastic show that can really give sex workers, queer sex workers, a platform to educate people who actually don’t know a lot about the community.
Cain: From a more behind-the-scenes point of view, it’s a similar trajectory for me. The first season was a real phenomenon because it was lockdown. It was such a boost for me, both with my career and confidence. Rebecca is still such a star of the show and a real driving force, but for me to switch to a producer and even just a casting role felt so sentimental. Passing on the baton to the next generation has been really, really beautiful.
I set up a fun comedy sketch called Moore Vintage, which is in a fictitious world called Slaggingtom Bottom – it’s kind of like a Metaverse of slags.
It’s been roughly four years since the first season aired, what have you been up to in the meantime?
Cain: I was very much in nightlife while the first season was filmed. Now, I run a night that travels around Europe and is based in London. I also do drag three times a week. I was only five months sober when the first season was filmed, and I remember I had a very sentimental cry at the end of the finale about it, and it’s now five years sober, which is just crazy. It’s been not only a professional boost for me in terms of opportunity, but it’s also given me a platform to speak about what I want and what I don’t want.
Rebecca: Since season one loads has happened in my world. Sophie and I came to an end shortly after the show, I bought this house and decided to focus on making as much cash as I could. I wanted to retire, and I have retired from making any content that causes me stress. I had to explain this to my male fans, like, “Everything comes to an end.” I loved my career in girl porn and gang bangs and stuff. But goodness me, there does come a time where you go, “Time’s up”. My therapist said to me, “Get out when you’re on top.” And that stuck with me.
It’s been over a year now and all I do is make content from home. It’s given me the freedom to be creative. I set up a fun comedy sketch called Moore Vintage, which is in a fictitious world called Slaggingtom Bottom – it’s kind of like a Metaverse of slags. I’ve also got my podcast, where I get to give a lot of my friends and people that I know a platform for their realness. We all have an online persona, and I like people to come on and go, “This is me, and this is how I create what I’ve had.” Sex workers do have to jump around a bit from all of these platforms, we can get on YouTube and not get kicked off, we can be on Instagram getting people to know more about us without trying to sell ourselves. I think people like seeing every sex worker’s personality
Cain: 100%. I think that’s completely what Slag Wars is. When I tell people it’s like a goofy reality TV show that’s also educational, people think there’s going to be segments where we’re teaching you how to put on a condom. But it’s educational in the sense that it’s adding a personality to the person that you maybe jack off to, or maybe you have a crush on, showing that they’re open about sobriety, or they do this performance and they’ve got this dog at home, you know? That’s what’s great with Rebecca’s podcast, and even the goofy sketches that she does, because a lot of people will be like “Oh, I didn’t even know that you had an accent.” People just see these static images of sex workers and then just scroll on to the next thing. But with these platforms, it’s like you’re humanising a static image.
With this in mind, what was it like getting into the second season, Cain, being that you returned as both a producer and casting director?
Cain: I mean, I have such a maternal, motherly kind of energy anyway, even right down to the nightlife stuff I do. As I’m getting older, it’s shifted more from being a Go-Go dancer and performer into more of an event coordinator, artist liaison type, so it was like hitting that nail on the head with the contestants. A few of them I’d never met before, and they were just people that I’d followed and I was obsessed with. A few of them I had worked with before, like Mama Mamba and Cocoa Kink, and I was like, one, you’re great television, but two, you deserve this shot. You’re funny, you’ve got all this talent I really want you to show off, and you deserve this boost. When it was actually filming, it was just great, I had to reign it in a bit because I was kind of Kris Jenner vibes. After the scenes they’d be like, “Was that okay?” And I’d be like, “That was incredible. Well done.”
What were the most memorable moments of this season for you both?
Rebecca: For me it was the whole reunion. With the crew, I hadn’t seen them since the last Slag Wars, so that was amazing. Seeing everybody again was very emotional, Matt Camp’s support was fantastic. I’ve got to mention Cain nailed talent spotting, and the cast are phenomenal, so individual, and it really makes a show.
Cain: Returning back to the OG house was really special, and seeing Rebecca grow throughout the episodes was great. I’m such a sucker for costume and creative, and I remember Rebecca you told me even the outfits, the way that they roll out, are presented in a way that is leading up to your retirement. It’s a latex army recruitment costume for the first episode, recruiting the next slags. No spoilers, but it leads on and on into this really beautiful moment in the finale where Rebecca speaks about shedding her skin and entering a new era for her. As a fan and star of the show, I was like, this is actually really good.
Rebecca, did you anticipate that Slag Wars would be such a big phenomenon to begin with?
Rebecca: Gosh, we were blown away. I definitely can speak for Sophie as well on this one, we would have moments on our own together where we’d hold hands and go, “What the fuck is our life like?” It was a dream. And the love and the support that we got for first season, so many people saying we kept them sane in lockdown. It was a challenge to get this fucking show aired somehow, and God bless them, I have to say Men.com, thank you to them because it got aired. And now, thank you so much to OutTV, we’re getting somewhere and people can see the stuff that they want.
Even since the airing of S1, how would you say public perception of sex work has changed in recent years?
Cain: Four years is an insane amount of time regardless, but even just OnlyFans becoming way more mainstream has completely changed things. A lot people have it as a side hustle ticking over in the background, whether it’s a means to survive or thrive. It’s no longer treated as a sordid thing, so therefore I don’t have to act in a sordid way. When I used to do studio porn it was so hush hush, I had a fake name. I would never tell anyone, even the people I would date. But then when I took ownership back, whether through doing the show or honing in on my own truths about why I want to do it, it gave me this power. As soon as you treat [sex work] like a normal thing, which it is, it becomes normalised, and then you avoid this stigma and these sorts of back alley things. It’s like drugs in a club. The minute that you employ welfare officers to kind of regulate it, if someone does have a wobble, then it’s fine, like, we don’t encourage it, but we prepare for it.
OnlyFans becoming way more mainstream has completely changed things.
Amongst this showcase of talent, you’ve both also used your platform to speak about life in recovery. Why did you feel so compelled to share your sobriety stories in this setting?
Rebecca: I’m in recovery myself, and the situation with Sophie, it’s very close to my heart. I asked for help. With sex work. life can be isolating, trying to champion on and pretend you’re okay. We are in the world of social media, and sometimes someone might just say something where you go, “Oh, that’s where I can go to get help, if I want help.” But the person has to want help. Sophie and I, we weren’t in a programme when we were together. We were two girls chatting to each other about how we were staying sober, we didn’t realise it but it worked for us. The last time I saw her I was saying, “Isn’t it funny, that’s how we stayed sober?” It’s an important subject because it’s an illness at the end of the day. I don’t think a lot of people understand that.
The truth is, with sex work, it fucking exists, whether people like it or not, whether they think it’s disturbing or not. We will stick together as a family and look after one another. And if someone has an issue, there’s no shame around that. We’ve got enough shame, thank you very much. People really can change their lives, you know? It’s worked for me. It’s worked for Cain. There’s this beautiful fucking life to be had, whatever you do for a living.
Cain: When I first got into sex work, it was a drink or whatever for confidence or to kind of calm down afterwards. It does go hand-in-hand, and that’s why I’m always so vocal about [sobriety]. Whenever I do these sober Q&A’s on my Instagram, I’m always like am I doing this to feed my ego? Am I doing it to help other people? Who is this serving? But even if it serves a handful of people – and it does – that’s great. It sets an example, not that I am the Oracle, I don’t believe that sobriety is the best thing that everyone should be. But I always try and speak on it when I can, when it’s appropriate.
Finally, how do you hope this season of Slag Wars will inspire the sex workers of tomorrow?
Cain: Personalising and humanising the people that you’re fantasising about, right? Realising that they’re lots of things, whether they’re incredibly talented at cabaret like people on the show and [showcasing] the pros and the cons of people.
Rebecca: And no more shame. It’s just a great show to come on and broadcast your gifts, to be loud and be proud if that’s what you want to be in your career. Some people don’t want to show their face when they’re doing sex work, I respect that as well, whatever anybody wants to do. Just know that there is a community of sex workers that will hold you up and love you. That’s kind of what we want to really present with Slag Wars, that we are a very supportive network.
And we cannot forget that Slag Wars 2 is in memory of Sophie Anderson. She really, really gave her all. She knew about the new slags and she loved them. God bless her. Rest in peace, my love. I love you so much. It’s in Sophie’s memory.
