Veteran Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson has come a long way in the 12 years since she joined the show. She’s now a married mum-of-two, has a successful OnlyFans platform, and is about to head back to college in preparation for opening a new business.
In an exclusive chat with OK!, the 33-year-old tells us why she’s so proud of what she’s built, what she thinks her kids – Rox, five, and two-year-old Oax – will make of her life on Geordie Shore and OnlyFans, and why she decided to marry her singer husband Casey Johnson...
Hi, Marnie! It’s your second wedding anniversary in a few weeks, still loving life with Casey?!
Yes! I knew for a very long time that I wanted him to be my husband and we’ve got an amazing marriage. There’s so much support and trust and honesty. I always say to myself, “If there’s one thing I’ve done right, it’s my family.” I’ve picked an amazing father for my kids and I’m not sure you see that a lot these days. I’m so happy with the decisions that I’ve made that led me to find him.
Are you proud of what you’ve achieved?
Yeah, I think about it all the time. For someone like me, who grew up with a single parent and didn’t come from money, or a big family – it was just me, my mam and my grandparents – it’s amazing where I’ve managed to get to and what I’ve built for myself. I feel very proud.
Do you think growing up with a single mum influenced your own choices when it came to men?
My mam always likes to say that I broke the bad chains of the family because of how my life’s worked out. The life that I came from is completely different to the life I have now. I saw how my mam struggled on her own. She’s married again now, but she didn’t meet her partner until I was about 18, and she’s so happy now. But seeing her on her own and seeing how much it affected her and how hard it was, it really made me want to find a good man and create a solid family life.
What was the moment that changed it all for you?
Obviously, my whole experience with MTV was amazing, it was such a great stepping stone. It opened so many doors for me, meeting my husband and having my children, getting married, buying my first home… I think it’s just been amazing, the whole journey.
Do you have any regrets from the old Geordie Shore series?
I regret the physical fights with the girls. But we were so young and like sisters. We lived with each other for eight weeks at a time three times a year. But looking back I just think, “God, I was only 21,” and I can’t watch it without cringing. I’m a completely different person nowadays, but living your early twenties for everyone to see is a bit embarrassing. So yeah, I regret the fights, but not the other stuff. I try to live without regrets.
How do you cope with all the opinions that appear online?
At times I’ve had to deal with a lot of online hate, and unfair opinions and judgements on my character, but I think that’s the price you pay being on TV. You’ve always seemed quite resilient when it comes to online trolling… I’m just naturally thick-skinned. I don’t know if that comes in my DNA – my mam’s very thick-skinned, so maybe it comes from her. I just always think, “We’re only here once,” so I’m not going to let anyone affect how I live my life.
You’re still doing OnlyFans. What do you like about it?
My content is just basically me connecting with all my fans – on a more personal level. It’s such an amazing community and I’ve met so many amazing people on it. I actually love it and it gives me a lot of freedom and flexibility in my life. I don’t regret it for a second but I feel like it does have a bit of a stigma around it.
What sort of content are you doing?
I’m not classed as an explicit account, it’s more the implied nudity. But I also feel like I focus a lot on connecting with people, chatting to them – it’s not just about the content, it’s also about the community.
What do you plan to tell your kids about it?
All I’m doing is trying to create an amazing life for my family and myself, and I’ve raised my children to be good people, not to judge and to always be supportive. I don’t think it’ll need to be a discussion really, they know me inside out. Also, I’ve done much worse on Geordie Shore!
Yes! I’m opening a new beauty salon, Enhance U Aesthetics, so I’m doing lots of training courses to get ready. I did an NVQ2 in Beauty Therapy when I was 16 and I loved it. Then I got into TV so I kind of left it behind. But I’m about to go back into training, and stepping back a bit from telly, and I’m so excited.
