We're British glamour models who tried to expose 'dirty pervert' photographer - but he's still shooting

A new podcast sees British glamour models making deeply concerning allegations about the abuse and exploitation they say they've witnessed going on in the industry because of 'zero' regulation to keep women safe - with many saying they're too scared to report sexual aggressors for fear of victim-shaming.

The Bunny Trap, produced by Novel, sees investigative journalist Ellie Flynn examining how the rise of 'Lads' mags' such as Loaded, Nuts and Zoo in the 90s and noughties has fuelled - via social media and sites such as OnlyFans - a 'dangerous' Wild West industry that has seen young women sexually abused by 'middle-aged men pretending to be photographers'.

Flynn told MailOnline how she and her podcast crew went in pursuit of one photographer named Luis in the US and Mexico - including hiding out on the Las Vegas strip with an armed guard - after receiving an email alleging that at least 12 British women had been lured into abusive situations by him, with the promise of getting work with Playboy.

One glamour model from the North East, Kiki Jay, alleges when she refused to engage in sexual activity with Luis on a shoot that he'd organised, breaking down in tears and begging him to stop groping her, he masturbated in front of her.

Another model, single mum Hera, who was out of work when she met Luis in 2020, says she paid £600 for a shoot, hopeful that she would get top tier work because of it.

Despite telling him she wanted to do 'topless only', Luis, she alleges, ended up pressurising her into an 'open legs' photograph. After the shoot, she claims he then refused to send her any of the photos she'd paid for until she sent him more explicit content.

The first episode of the ten-parter sees British glamour model Emilie Rae , who grew up in the countryside, say she was forced to flee a London Airbnb after the same photographer offered her a 'golden ticket' free photoshoot - but told her when she got there she would need to spend the night with him.

The model, who describes herself as 'a bit of a nerd, who loves musical theatre', had been making £8,000 a month from OnlyFans .

When the money began to lessen and she feared she wouldn't make her mortgage payments, the chance to shoot with such a well connected photographer seemed too good to turn down - but she says it turned into a terrifying ordeal that left her feeling 'degraded'.

She alleges the 'big deal' photographer, who hasn't responded to multiple requests by Flynn to address the allegations - and hasn't been charged with any offences - harassed her into doing more and more intimate poses, including using sex toys - and says his camera was at one point during the shoot 'literally almost inside me'.

Emilie Rae describes how her worst safety fears came true, telling the podcast: 'Things started escalating to pornographic and I just thought "What is going on?". He would physically come over and grab my hand and put it somewhere. He was very aggressive.'

She says he then began to shoot a video, which wasn't agreed in advance, and asked her to perform oral sex on him. She refused.

Emilie tells Flynn that he kissed her and put his hands around her waist, saying 'no-one has to know'. She fled the shoot, saying she had a 'really lucky escape' and returned to her hotel.

She says: 'I've never felt so dirty. I felt gross, I felt sweaty, I felt degraded. I remember scrubbing my skin in the shower.'

After posting on Instagram about her experience without naming the photographer, she says around a dozen other British women got in touch via DM and asked her if it was Luis, and told her they'd all had equally horrific experiences with.

They all said he'd told them he could get them work in the biggest glamour magazines and that they'd endured sexual aggression from him. Over WhatsApp, the women decided to share their experiences with Luis on Instagram.

In 2020, they shared posts and images tagging him and saw them go viral. However, they say he simply deleted his accounts. He later re-emerged with a new profile and is still operating as a photographer.

Flynn told MailOnline that his career credentials mean young glamour models are still taking his requests for photoshoots seriously, hopeful that they'll lead to a career-boosting shoot.

According to many of the women who've spoken out, Luis operates under a 'pay to play' scheme, where models have to pay for the photos he takes, anywhere from £600 to £3-4,000 a shoot - unless he offers a 'golden ticket'.

The issue of victim-shaming spurred Flynn on to make the podcast, saying no-one was willing to report their experiences for fear of being blamed for them.

She said: 'It felt really important to make this podcast because the thing that kept coming up with every woman I spoke to was because they're glamour models, nobody was going to take them seriously, almost like "what do you expect? If this is what you do for a living..."'.

'The rise of OnlyFans coincided with the death of Playboy and what the glamour industry largely is now exists on OnlyFans - but the lines have become so blurred.

'In the 90s and Noughties, you were a glamour model - and you might appear in Nuts or Zoo or on Page 3 or in Playboy, and you would never consider yourself a sex worker.

'With OnlyFans, there often is encouragement to go further and there's a lot of exploitation that exists within that.'

Flynn, who has made documentaries for BBC 3 and Channel 4 Dispatches, says the financial gains to be made from OnlyFans mean glamour models such as Emilie, who earned £2,000 from new fans within her first 24 hours on the site, feel the pressure to go further .

'I think a lot of women buy into the OnlyFans dream because they hear about these stories of people making huge, huge amounts of money - but they are the minority, not the majority.

'What often happens with OnlyFans is you'll be a novelty at first, a new person to subscribe to - but then there are demands from customers to get more and more explicit. If you don't, you fear you might lose those customers.'

Flynn said glamour models set their own 'levels', the term used to describe the boundary of what they will and won't do - with Luis described as a 'level-pusher' by many of the women who have alleged he mistreated them for his own sexual gratification.

The term GWC, or 'guys with cameras', has become a common term, says the host: 'You get a lot of middle aged men, often retired, picking up the camera at some point in their lives, who'd quite like to hang out with young women who aren't wearing much - and they call themselves a photographer.'

The glamour model industry is, she says a 'Wild West', with zero regulation - and none looks forthcoming.

Flynn attributes the abuse and exploitation to the rise of lads mags such as Loaded, Nuts, FHM, as well as Playboy, saying: 'This [exploitation] is a direct result of those kind of mags.

'To me now, it seems insane that there's a time when those magazines did exist - that you could go into your newsagent and there would be topless women on the top shelf - it feels so outdated in the modern context.

'It's a very misogynistic industry but if we want those women to feel heard, you have to accept there was an allure to those magazines, and there were girls who looked up to those women and wanted to be like them - accepting that is a big part of this story'.

MailOnline has contacted the photographer.

Playboy USA told the podcast that they've asked their licensees to blacklist the photographer the women have named - and that they prohibit 'pay to play' shoots.