OPINION: Senior Features Writer Layla Nicholson decided to take Britain’s biggest adult star for a drink down the pub – and quickly realised she wasn’t the only one who had full attention on Lily
The pub is usually a place where judgement is lacking. However, that was far from the case when I took Lily Phillips for a drink on a Tuesday afternoon.
Britain’s biggest adult star of the moment – apart from arch rival Bonnie Blue – has found herself in headlines since she went viral for having sex with 101 men in a day last October.
And now Lily finds herself sitting opposite me, a journalist, for her next grilling. It’s not often you’ll find Wetherspoon all-dayers look up from their pint (plural) and newspaper.
But, Lily is certainly an exception. She tends to be quite the rule smasher, quite literally, after all. She walked in with her white puffy white jacket, matching top and linen trousers. Looking more like a Zara advert than an adult star in Wetherspoons.
I purposely found a table that was in the corner, in an attempt to tuck us away from the rest of the punters in our section – that was crowded with mums and children just an hour before.
While my eyes were on Lily, it was difficult to not notice that she was being ogled from elsewhere.
A table of four men couldn’t help but look – watch even – as I chatted away to Lily. Were they just staring at Lily in her angelic clobber or were they aware they were sharing an afternoon in Wetherspoons with one of Britain’s biggest adult stars?
Either way, it makes me slightly cringe. Lily, at 24, could be their daughter – or even granddaughter. Though, I’m sure that’s not a bother for Lily. She says that she’d take anyone as long as they are “over the age of 18, living and breathing.”
It looks like these old blokes need to get a move on then before their puff runs out.
She reportedly made millions since filming herself having sex with 101 men in a day, and would later go on to ‘achieve’ the world record of bedding 1113 in under 24 hours (allegedly).
Even if these blokes don’t tune into Lily’s content, it’s hard not to recognise her from the polarising effect she’s had. One of which has been widely documented in the media – across papers, radio and the telly on a global scale.
However, they weren’t the only people in Wetherspoons that afternoon to get an eyeful of Lily. Deep into our ‘date’, it was clear that a staff member clocked onto the status of one of their customers.
Was this the first time an adult star has gone on a Wetherspoons date? Well, it was certainly the first time for Lily since her teenage years as I re-popped her ‘Spoons cherry.
Remaining observant is part of my job. As Lily revealed her not so juicy details on dating, I simultaneously watched as a chef slowly walked past.
It caught my attention as he was hardly going to be out of the kitchen to receive table-side praise from patrons for some chicken goujons. Though, those three plates for £14.99 never fail to disappoint. Lily does beg to differ.
He then did another lap around our area. And then another.
For a moment, I got a brief insight into how Lily is viewed by the outside world. A bit of a performing monkey that is difficult to look away from – even if some stunts are unbearable to watch for most.
I started to worry that someone was going to approach Lily. She’s been inundated with trolls and threats on social media, along with total infatuation from her 1.2million Instagram followers. But no one came over.
Although Lily caught attention from men, a female server delivered our Diet Pepsi’s to the table and didn’t bat an eyelid. Does Lily just merely exist amongst the online world of men?
Lily didn’t appear to be fazed by the onlookers. Perhaps she didn’t notice or didn’t care because the trolls are emboldened by the screen that divides them.
She just tells me she has to be more “thoughtful” about what she gets up to in public. It’s only been a year since Lily was plunged into the circus of fame. And she’s so far conducting it pretty well.