Missouri OnlyFans teacher warns against porn career after being left 'total outcast'
A former Missouri teacher turned OnlyFans model has warned other educators not to follow in her footsteps as she regrets making an account on the adult website.
Megan Gaither, 32, told the St. Louis Dispatch that she 'wouldn't recommend' other teachers join OnlyFans for the sake of supplemental income.
While the cash flow is good, making five times as much as she ever did as a teacher, Gaither said she's become a 'total outcast' in her hometown of St. Clair, Missouri.
But above everything, she misses being a teacher at St. Clair High School.
Just days after clearing out her classroom, she told Post-Dispatch that the hate she's received for her adult comment has only gotten worse.
A former Missouri teacher turned OnlyFans model warns other educators not to follow in her footsteps as she regrets making an account on the adult website
While the cashflow is good, making five times as much as she ever did as a teacher, Gaither said she's become a 'total outcast' in her hometown of St. Clair, Missouri
'A lot of people tell me that I should be happy, but I wouldn't wish this past year on anybody,' said Gaither. 'I studied 12 years to become a teacher, and now that's gone.
'Looking back, I wouldn't recommend this. If I could go back, I would tell myself not to do it.'
Last September, Gaither was the second teacher at St. Clair High School to be put on leave for having an OnlyFans account, where she posted direct-to-consumer pornographic content within the same month.
She was an English teacher and varsity cheerleading coach - but she was suspended after a student put a note under her classroom door saying they 'knew her secret.'
The married teacher had been working at the high school for four years and said she started her raunchy page to supplement her income - just like her colleague Brianna Coppage, who noted that she was a teacher on her account.
Gaither, who received a $47,500 salary last year, said that she 'hid very well behind an alias and no face pictures,' but she was outed against her will. On OnlyFans, she was making up to $5,000 a month.
She told the Post-Dispatch in October that the reason she turned to porn was to tide her over during the holidays. She said: 'Teaching does not financially support a person.
'It's really hard to stretch those paychecks during the summer. That's why I did it.'
After her fellow teaching colleague was outed, Gaither deactivated her OnlyFans account, which had about 1,500 subscribers - but rumors continued to swirl.
Gaither appeared in a video on Coppage's account - with her face hidden - after a party in the town - in which she was wearing a costume.
But people started putting two and two together when a photo of Gaither wearing the same costume at the party was posted publicly online.
Gaiter was an English teacher and varsity cheerleading coach - but she was suspended after a student put a note under her classroom door saying they 'knew her secret'
Gaiter was suspended from the high the same month as her colleague Brianna Coppage, 28, who also began her OnlyFans page as a means to supplement her $42,000 per year income
She said: 'I was in like maybe four minutes of the entire thing, and I definitely did not think this would be the thing that would ruin my entire career.'
Things took a turn for the worst when a student slipped a note under her classroom door suggesting they 'knew her secret,' Gaither said.
Gaither has since reactivated her account and is still making content, which she said comes with highs and lows. While she does not think down on the school district or her coworkers, she is still upset that someone snitched.
'My husband and I talked about this before I started OnlyFans, that there would be consequences if I was caught,' Gaither said. 'I know I made choices. But whoever turned me in, I have to ask: Was that necessary? And what did I do to them to deserve this kind of treatment?'
On one hand, she's making $22,000 a month from her 1,500 subscribers. Since October, she's made $2 million, and she was able to purchase 20 acres of land near St. Clair where they want to grow a garden and care for chickens.
She also said she has paid off her student loans and credit card debt.
'Our lives are forever changed because of OnlyFans,' Coppage said.
But with that, she has come to terms that her career as a teacher is over, a career that feels 'like a lifetime ago.'
She's also been ostracized from her community and even members of her own family for her controversial career pivot. The former teacher said she's in therapy to cope with the flood of negativity, criticizing her role as a teacher and parent of two young children.
'It is unreal how quickly people seem to forget that I am a human being,' she said. 'I would never, ever call someone out based on how they look or how their body is shaped, but these people do.'
Pictured: Gaiter with the cheerleading squad at St. Clair High School, who she used to coach before her Only Fans scandal
Gaither, who received a $47,500 salary from the high school, said that she 'hid very well behind an alias and no face pictures,' but she was outed against her will. On OnlyFans, she was making up to $5,000 a month
Her direct messages aren't all negative. In fact, a lot of them are questions from aspiring OnlyFans content creators who are struggling financially.
'My advice is to really think about the consequences of this decision and to consider those consequences as your reality because it will happen to you just like it happened to me,' Gaither said. 'Are you OK with never working professionally again?'
Gaither is using her newfound wealth to obtain a doctoral degree to teach at a college level. While she understands her options may be limited, she isn't giving up her passion for teaching just yet.
