Chloe Sims is excited about life right now, and it’s not just because she brushed shoulders with Hailey Bieber and Jared Leto at Coachella.
No, Sims and her siblings, Frankie, Demi and Charlie along with his girlfriend Georgia Shults, have swapped Brentwood for Hollywood after signing a mega content deal with OFTV, a free video platform featuring original content by OnlyFans creators.
Their new reality docuseries, House of Sims, which launches on May 3, follows them as they build their careers in Los Angeles after leaving The Only Way is Essex behind them.
Already the series has drawn comparisons to The Kardashians, and while Sims is happy with the analogy, even joking she sees a bit of herself in Kim Kardashian, she insisted that the similarity stops at them both being family-centric shows.
Speaking from her home in LA, the reality TV star told The Standard: “I don’t see that as, like, a bad thing. Obviously, I would love to be two steps behind the Kardashians.
“I’m a fan of them. I’ve always enjoyed watching them, watching in their careers and their show.”
“I don’t think that there’s more similarities other than the fact that we’re a family and we’ve got a reality TV show. I think that’s where it ends. But if people want to say that then I’ll take it as a compliment.”
Reality TV is the Sims family’s wheelhouse, with all four siblings having previously appeared on ITVBe’s TOWIE.
In fact, Chloe was the last remaining original cast member on the series, which first aired back in 2010, before her departure last July.
Although “grateful” for the opportunities TOWIE brought her, the Essex native said the series had “changed a lot” from its origins and knew it was time to step away when it felt like “working alongside fans of the show”.
She reflected: “I really did enjoy my years on it. It changed my whole life, and I wouldn’t have this opportunity if it wasn’t for that so I’m always going to be grateful to The Only Way Is Essex.
“But the cast did change a lot, and, in the end, it felt like working alongside fans of the show, because people that had grown up watching us were now filming with us.
“I think for me, it was more of an age thing. I outgrew it in the end, and I felt like I’d given and shown the viewers everything I possibly could at that point.
“I didn’t have anything else to give and I really wanted to obviously move on with my life. I’m lucky that I have my own show to do that now and I can take my fans along with me on my new chapter.”
Now armed with her own series, one she is co-producing with her brother Charlie, how does House of Sims differ from her experience on TOWIE? “We had full control of what we were filming,” Chloe shared. “We wanted to show ourselves in a different light and I think we’ve captured that very well.”
“I’m really excited for it to come out and obviously a little bit nervous as well to see people’s reactions, but we are proud of it.”
The family’s deal with OFTV, a free video platform featuring OnlyFans creators, was one of the brand’s biggest investments to date in original content.
Since OnlyFans’ launch in 2016, it has grown to provide content for over 200 million subscribers, becoming synonymous with porn and adult content in popular culture.
While OF is predominately associated with explicit content, the OFTV platform couldn’t be more different, producing comedy and cookery shows, and now their first reality TV series.
When asked if she worries about House of Sims being mislabelled due to its association with OF, Sims said their new series aims to demystify that link and when viewers tune in, they’ll understand the content they produce is just like Netflix or Hulu.
She added: “I hope that our show will help with that. The platforms are separate, but they are under the OF brand. It’s like any other streaming platform. So, I think that once the message is out there and people understand that, then they’ll tune in.”
While OFTV is completely different to OnlyFans, Sims revealed that she decided to set up an account like celebrities Cardi B, Bella Thorne and Denise Richards, after signing their deal last summer.
Despite following in some star’s footsteps launching one, she admitted that she was wary of sharing it with people while still in the UK.
She shared: “I was a little bit more nervous about that when I was in the UK, but since moving to Los Angeles, having an Only Fans is actually very similar to having an Instagram here.
“It’s completely normal, there’s no judgment on it. If you say ‘OnlyFans’, people don’t flinch.”
While there’s limits to what she’ll post on her account in terms of nudity, Chloe admitted there’s no limit in requests she gets on from subscribers and their fetishes.
“You get some wild requests,” she reflected. “Obviously I don’t fulfil them, but I do get feet requests.
“I mean, OF’s opened my mind, and I obviously am more aware of people’s fetishes, but I only would do what I want, what I feel comfortable with doing and I’ve put myself in bikini and underwear in newspaper shoots and across social media for years.”
So what’s next for Chloe and her siblings? Well, they’ve made the decision to stay in Hollywood and are already filming season two, so no chance of seeing them in Chigwell’s Sheesh anytime soon.
She shared: “We’re committed. We’ve made some major commitments here. So, we’ll definitely be staying. I’ve no intention of leaving LA.”
