It's not easy being a shapely, photogenic soap star. Take Amy Nuttall for instance - she's the attractive young redhead who made her name on shagging and sheep-dip soap Emmerdale, playing troublesome man-eater Chloe Atkinson. Despite being a talented singer and live performer, Amy decided that the best way to keep her profile high was to appear in a string of revealing photo-shoots. Since the character of Chloe was cast out of the village at Easter in 2005, Nuttall has forged a successful career as a recording artist, and recently joined the cast of BBC trash-fest Hotel Babylon. But speaking to the People newspaper recently, Nuttall has revealed that she was 'pressured' to strip for lads mags in order to drive interest in her Emmerdale persona.
"I was kind of told that if you do this you will get bigger and better storylines. They said that the more attention you got, the bigger the character would grow, therefore there would be more to do. And so I kind of thought, 'Oh well...in that case'. I wouldn't say there was pressure to do it but I certainly was young and naïve because I was just 18 when I started in Emmerdale."
On the surface, this story offers a disturbing insight into the way young women's sexuality is commoditised by unscrupulous TV producers. But where does free will come into play? By her own admission, Nuttall admits that she was enticed by the idea of bigger and better storylines, and thought 'oh well... in that case'. Hardly the perspective of someone doing something against their will.
Like any Faustian pact, it's too late to regret your decisions after the fact. The time to think about the ramifications of your actions is before you make them. Everyone's soul has a price, it just helps to know what yours is before you start bartering.
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