When Babestation gets nominated for an award, you don’t exactly turn around and say, “Oh well, I’ll stay home.” So when I was asked to head to Amsterdam and represent Babestation at the XMA Awards, I was obviously going. The first X3 Amsterdam was happening alongside the awards, bringing together performers, content creators, fans and some of the biggest brands in the adult industry. But for me, the real reason I was there was Babestation.
The brand had been nominated for Cam Site of the Year, and getting to experience that from the inside was something I was genuinely excited about. Especially because Babestation isn’t some brand that appeared five minutes ago because someone decided webcams were having a moment. Babestation has history.
A very different kind of Babestation
I’ve been around Babestation in different capacities over the years, so I’ve seen first-hand how much the world around it has changed. There was a time when Babestation meant late-night television, satellite channels and premium-rate phone sex lines. Before Instagram. Before TikTok. Before everyone had a ring light and a phone capable of broadcasting a live cams show to thousands of people from their bedroom. Now we’re in a completely different world.
Fans can watch live, message performers, receive cock ratings from live babes, follow them on social media and interact with them in ways that simply didn’t exist when Babestation first became a household name. And Babestation has evolved with it. That’s why seeing the brand nominated for Cam Site of the Year felt particularly interesting. It wasn’t just an award nomination for a website. It was recognition of Babestation’s place in a very different version of the industry it helped shape. And I got to go to Amsterdam and represent it. Not bloody bad.
Welcome to the XMA Awards
There is something quite fun about being told you’re going to an awards ceremony and then actually finding yourself standing on a red carpet surrounded by people you’ve spent years seeing online. The XMA Awards brought together some of the biggest names in the adult industry, and there was no shortage of glamour.
Everyone was dressed up. Cameras were everywhere. There were drinks flowing, people catching up and that slightly surreal feeling you get when an industry that normally exists behind screens suddenly becomes a room full of actual people. And there I was, strutting around in my suit trousers and waistcoat with the Babestation name attached to me. I’ll admit, I enjoyed it.
There’s something rather epic about getting properly dressed up for an evening, walking a red carpet and being there because a brand you’re working with has been recognised on an international stage. It’s not exactly the sort of thing you put in the traditional definition of “work trip”.
Representing a brand with a history
The thing I appreciated most was being able to represent Babestation rather than simply attend as another creator. There’s a difference. You’re suddenly looking at the room slightly differently. You’re watching who is there, seeing the brands represented, listening to conversations and thinking about where Babestation sits within this constantly changing industry, and it belongs there.
Babestation has gone from television to online, from phone lines to live interaction, and from a very different kind of adult entertainment landscape into the world we’re in now. That transition is huge. The fact that it can stand alongside modern cam brands and creators and be nominated at an awards ceremony like the XMA Awards says something about how much the brand has evolved without losing what made it recognisable in the first place.
And of course, Babestation brought the babes
I wasn’t the only Babestation representative in Amsterdam. Loula Lou and Zoe Grey were at X3 meeting fans, chatting, taking photos and doing what they do best. And there was even more Babestation representation when Belle O’Hara, one of our gorgeous BSX girls, went home with the MILF Creator of the Year award. Yes, you read that correctly. She only went and bloody won it.
There was plenty of UK talent getting recognised across the awards too, with Mila Amora and Summer Fox both receiving nominations in their respective categories. It was brilliant seeing so many familiar British faces represented alongside performers and creators from across the world. And that’s where the weekend became about more than the awards. Because however much the industry changes technologically, the human side of it is still incredibly important.
Fans don’t just want to look at a screen. They want to meet the person on the other side of it, to have a conversation, take a photo, tell them they’ve been watching them for years or simply have a laugh together. Watching that happen at X3 was probably one of my favourite parts of the weekend. There was a real sense of community around the event, with performers meeting fans, creators meeting each other and people finally putting faces to names they’d known online for ages.
I also got to catch up with plenty of familiar faces and spend the weekend with my gorgeous bestie Zeena Valvona, which obviously made Amsterdam considerably more entertaining. Because apparently one adult industry awards weekend wasn’t enough chaos.
The glamorous bit
I’m not going to pretend I didn’t enjoy the glamour. I absolutely did. There’s something about Amsterdam, an awards ceremony, a red carpet and an entire room full of people who have made a career out of being very comfortable in front of a camera. It was fun, and I think that’s sometimes forgotten when people talk about the adult industry. Behind all the content, platforms, businesses and social media accounts are people who actually work together, socialise together, support each other and, occasionally, end up in a karaoke bar together. Which brings me neatly to…
Nobody told Amsterdam about my Green Day and System of a Down era
Because obviously the evening couldn’t end with everyone behaving themselves. After the X3 and the XMAs, a group of us ended up in a private karaoke room, and I would like the record to show that I absolutely nailed Green Day’s Holiday and System of a Down’s Chop Suey. I’m not interested in alternative opinions at this time. After spending the weekend being a respectable representative of Babestation, I felt it was only right to demonstrate my other professional skill set. Rock star. Obviously!
So, what did I take away from it?
For me, the biggest thing wasn’t the red carpet or the dressing up, although both were bloody good fun. It was seeing Babestation represented in a room full of brands and creators from across the modern adult industry, and seeing so many people connected to the brand and the UK scene getting recognised too.
The industry has changed beyond recognition since Babestation first appeared. The way people watch, communicate, create and make money has completely transformed. But Babestation is still here.Still evolving. Still creating, and now, still being recognised alongside some of the biggest names in the business.
Getting to be there for that was a privilege, but it was also a good excuse to get on a plane to Amsterdam, put on a nice outfit and have a weekend I won’t forget in a hurry. And if representing Babestation at the XMAs means I get invited back next year? Well, I suppose I’ll just have to clear my diary. And possibly practise Holiday.