“I Was in an Italian Porno!” Janet Street-Porter Shocks Fans With Hilarious Confession About Bizarre 1960s Film Role
If there is one thing the British public has come to expect from the legendary broadcaster and journalist Janet Street-Porter, it is the absolute, unvarnished truth. For over five decades, the veteran media personality has built an illustrious career on a bedrock of unapologetic honesty, sharp wit, and a refusal to sugarcoat her opinions. Whether she is challenging societal norms as an outspoken panelist on ITV’s Loose Women, penning incisive newspaper columns, or regaling audiences with tales of her fiercely independent life, Janet has never been one to shy away from a controversial topic. However, even the most devoted fans of the 79-year-old television titan were utterly blindsided by her latest revelation—a hilariously unexpected skeleton plucked straight from the glittering, chaotic closet of the Swinging Sixties.
Currently touring the United Kingdom with her highly successful one-woman show, aptly titled Off The Leash, Janet has been sharing intimate, often uproarious anecdotes from her long and colorful life. The stage show offers a deeper, more personal look at the woman behind the iconic blunt fringe and distinctive voice, chronicling her journey from a working-class upbringing in London to the very pinnacle of British media. But during a recent performance, the veteran presenter dropped a spectacular bombshell that left the live audience roaring with a mixture of shock and sheer delight.
Leaning into the microphone with her trademark deadpan delivery, Janet confessed that back in 1966, long before she became a household name, she had actually appeared in a completely bizarre, experimental “Italian porno” film. Yes, you read that correctly. The esteemed former editor of The Independent on Sunday and beloved daytime TV staple was once a paid extra in an adult-themed production. But in true Janet Street-Porter fashion, the story was less about scandalous Hollywood glamour and far more about a hilarious comedy of errors, extreme nearsightedness, and the desperate hustle of a broke college student trying to make ends meet in 1960s London.
To fully appreciate the sheer absurdity of the anecdote, one must first understand the context of the era and Janet’s circumstances at the time. The year was 1966, a defining moment in British cultural history. London was the epicenter of global fashion, music, and artistic rebellion. Carnaby Street was booming, The Beatles were rewriting the rules of pop music, and the youth culture was experiencing an unprecedented explosion of creative freedom. Amidst this vibrant, kaleidoscopic backdrop, a young Janet Bull (her maiden name) was navigating her very first year as a student at the prestigious Architectural Association School of Architecture.
While the era may have been swinging, Janet’s bank account certainly was not. “In 1966, I’d done my first year at college,” she explained to her captivated audience. “It was a nightmare because I didn’t have much of a grant.” Like countless students before and since, the meager government stipend she received barely covered the essentials, let alone the vibrant social life that the capital city had to offer. Driven by a fierce work ethic and an undeniable creative flair, Janet began cobbling together a series of odd jobs to supplement her income and keep her head above water.
She turned her hand to fashion, making clothes to sell in the trendy boutiques lining Carnaby Street, tapping into the explosion of mod culture and avant-garde style. But even that wasn’t quite enough to pay the bills, leading her to seek out additional work as a film extra. In the booming cinematic landscape of the 1960s, background work was a relatively accessible way for young people to earn a quick paycheck. And so, the future BAFTA-winning broadcaster found herself cast as a receptionist in an obscure, highly unorthodox Italian film production.
If the premise of starring in an adult film sounds shocking, Janet was quick to dismantle any glamorous or sultry illusions the audience might have been harboring. The reality of her experience on set was a masterclass in surrealism and physical comedy. According to Janet, her costume for the role was a quintessential slice of 1960s fashion: a crisp white nylon mini overall paired with stark white tights. Her primary prop was a simple clipboard. Her sole direction for the scene? To walk around the set projecting the waifish, high-fashion energy of the era’s biggest supermodel.
“I can’t really tell you what the plot was because my role consisted of me mincing about looking like Twiggy,” she laughed, painting a vivid and deeply amusing picture of her younger self trying to execute a sultry, fashion-forward strut while clutching a clipboard. But the true comedic crux of the story—the reason she remained blissfully ignorant to the more explicit nature of the production unfolding around her—came down to her eyesight.
Janet has worn glasses for much of her life, and her vision without them is famously poor. In a bid to look the part of the chic, modern receptionist, she made the fateful decision to remove her spectacles before the cameras started rolling. The result was a hilarious, Mr. Magoo-esque scenario where a young Janet Street-Porter was navigating a chaotic, highly inappropriate film set completely blind to the debauchery happening mere feet away.
“I was in an Italian porno,” she proudly declared to the theater, pausing perfectly for comedic effect. “I can’t really tell you what happened because I took my glasses off. I had no vision!”
The audience erupted into hysterics as the image settled in their minds: a severely myopic Janet, clad in a tiny nylon dress, blindly strutting around an adult film set, completely oblivious to the plot, the other actors, and the general adult nature of the project. It is a cinematic mental image that firmly belongs in a classic British sitcom, yet it was simply a Tuesday in the life of a young, hustling student in 1966.
Despite her lack of clear vision, the few visual fragments that Janet did manage to absorb during the filming process only serve to highlight just how incredibly weird this particular production was. Italian cinema in the 1960s was famously avant-garde, often blurring the lines between art-house surrealism, eroticism, and sheer psychedelic nonsense. Based on Janet’s foggy recollections, this film was no exception.
She recounted one particularly baffling sequence that took place in a mock-up of a Chelsea hairdresser’s salon. As Janet wandered through the set with her trusty clipboard, she noticed the women seated at the backwash basins. However, they were not simply getting their hair shampooed; rather, they were bizarrely adorned with massive, papier-mâché horse heads. The sheer absurdity of the visual—a row of women in a chic London salon sporting giant, handmade equine masks—remains entirely unexplained to this day. Janet herself has absolutely no idea why the horse heads were there, how they tied into the storyline, or what the director was attempting to convey.
But the surrealism did not stop at the salon. The filming eventually migrated to a completely different, equally confusing location. “The next thing took place in a Turkish bath where everyone was stark naked,” she revealed, the bewilderment still evident in her voice six decades later. Plunged into a steamy room filled with completely nude actors, a visually impaired Janet simply kept her head down, clung to her clipboard, and continued her designated task of “mincing about.” The juxtaposition of her innocent, unseeing performance against a backdrop of naked bathers and papier-mâché farm animals is a testament to the wild, unregulated nature of the film industry during that revolutionary decade.
Hearing Janet recount the story with such vibrant humor and utter lack of shame is precisely why she has remained a beloved fixture in British media for over half a century. In an industry where public figures spend exhaustive amounts of time and money carefully curating their images and hiding their past indiscretions, Janet has always chosen the opposite path. She owns every single chapter of her life—the triumphs, the failures, the chaotic marriages, the brilliant career moves, and yes, even the accidental foray into Italian adult cinema.
Her ability to look back at her younger, struggling self and mine the situation for pure, self-deprecating comedy is a rare gift. It bridges the gap between the formidable, highly respected television executive she became and the vulnerable, financially stressed student she once was. It serves as a hilarious reminder that everyone’s path to success is paved with a few bizarre detours, strange part-time jobs, and moments of utter confusion.
The distance between that bewildered extra clutching a clipboard in 1966 and the woman commanding the stage today is vast. After realizing that architecture was perhaps not her true calling, Janet pivoted into fashion journalism, eventually catching the eye of Shirley Conran, who appointed her as the deputy fashion editor of the Daily Mail in 1969. From there, her ascent was meteoric. She became the fashion editor of the Evening Standard, a groundbreaking television presenter who championed youth programming, a BAFTA-winning producer, and eventually a powerful BBC Television executive.
Today, she is widely celebrated as one of the most distinctive and influential voices in modern broadcasting. Her tenure on Loose Women, which began in 2011, has introduced her sharp intellect and biting humor to a whole new generation of daytime television viewers. She has used her platform to champion women’s health, speak openly about her own battles with skin cancer and shingles, and provide a vital, often dissenting voice on the political and cultural issues of the day. She has built a legacy on being fearless, which makes the revelation of her unwitting, visually impaired stint in a porno all the more delightful.
As her Off The Leash tour continues to travel across the country, it is highly likely that Janet has even more unbelievable stories hidden up her tailored sleeves. Fans flock to her shows not just for the laughs, but for the profound sense of authenticity she brings to the stage. In a world full of polished PR spins and carefully guarded secrets, Janet Street-Porter remains a refreshing, unstoppable force of nature—a woman who will gladly tell a theater full of strangers about the time she took her glasses off and accidentally starred in a naked Turkish bath scene.
For the audiences lucky enough to hear these tales firsthand, it is a masterclass in owning your narrative. Janet’s journey from a penniless student making Carnaby Street mini-skirts to a national treasure is nothing short of inspirational. And while she may never truly know the plot of that mysterious 1966 film, the plot of her own life continues to be one of the most wildly entertaining stories in British showbiz history.
