Hunter McVey Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Everyone loves a "star is born" story, à la Mervyn LeRoy stumbling upon Lana Turner at Schwab's Pharmacy (which was only partly true - it was Hollywood Reporter founder William Wilkerson who discovered her at Top Hat Café). But Hollywood has changed a good bit since 1936, and so has the nature of its overnight success stories. Just ask 26-year-old Hunter McVey, a fitness model and influencer who suspects his OnlyFans account may have contributed to his own, instant transformation into a primetime TV star. "Who knows?" McVey tells THR in addressing his dalliance with OnlyFans, which lasted less than one year. "It could have been part of the reason I'm here today." Related Stories TV Kim Kardashian Plays Off 'All's Fair' Scathing Reviews in Instagram Post TV 'All's Fair' Director Responds to Critics, Asking Viewers to Have an Open Mind About Kim Kardashian-Led Series (Exclusive) Clearly someone out there liked what they saw, as McVey - who had never acted before, much less stepped foot on a Hollywood soundstage - was assigned an acting coach by 20th Television and flown to L.A. from his hometown of Nashville to audition for a key recurring role on 9-1-1: Nashville: that of stripper-turned-firefighter Blue Bennings. Before his return flight had even landed, his phone pinged him that he had gotten the part. Realizing he was meant for bigger things, McVey shut down the OnlyFans account, telling his following in a farewell video message, "I appreciate your support over this journey. I cannot thank you enough. And I'm not just saying that - because it allowed me to change my life and change my family's life." We caught up with McVey over Zoom to find out more about how he defied the odds to become Hollywood's next big thing. Let's start at the very beginning, Hunter. Where are you from? I was born in Franklin, Tennessee. I don't have too many memories in Franklin, as I spent most of my early childhood in southern Indiana outside of Evansville. My backyard was a cornfield. I moved to Northern Virginia for the later part of my childhood and went to school at Virginia Tech. When I went to school in 2017, my parents made a full-circle move back to Franklin, so I spent summers and winters in Franklin until 2021. When I graduated, I moved to downtown Nashville. And what brought you to Nashville? I wanted to be close to family, and I was working a sales job at a financial firm in college at the time, and they had an office outside of Nashville. How did you get into modeling? I probably did four or five different jobs before modeling. I sold insurance in 28 states. I did marketing for a CBD company. I worked at a hospital and sold full-body CT scans. I started posting on social media while I was working that job at the hospital. I made a goal for myself to post every single day for a year and thought that would allow me to become self-employed. In about seven to eight months, I was making enough income to quit that job at the hospital. What were you posting that you were making the income? All sorts of videos. First it was fitness, nutrition videos. Then it turned into personal care, lifestyle, clothing, skincare, haircare, mindset videos. Then I got contacted by modeling agencies and started modeling. I started a clothing brand. I started a podcast. I started multiple businesses, some I got to launching, some failed. Then we got to acting in May of 2025. I have seen articles online that say you were on OnlyFans. Is that correct? Yes. It was a great stepping stone for me and it definitely served its purpose. When I started modeling, I figured most of my audience - and that was hundreds of thousands of people, actually - came in just because of the way I looked. So when I was posting value-driven content about health and fitness, I would notice the views weren't doing as well because most people are there just to see my modeling photos, see me shirtless. And I found a platform [in OnlyFans] where I could post all of my modeling photos, all of the behind the scenes footage and a space for my fans to get better connected with me. I would get 40 or 50 DMs about it every single day about people asking me to make one. So I said, "You know what? If I can make the same or more amount of money with modeling from home and I get to have my time and not have to travel, why not?" I met some great people on there. The fans were great, and it was a stepping stone in terms of my career. Who knows? It could have been part of the reason I'm here today. The last two years of my history has been trial and error. I'm not scared to fail, and it's just something that was a part of my journey getting here. How long were you on it? All told, maybe seven or eight months. Did you ever do full nudity on OnlyFans? No. OK. But th