Lily Phillips performs a sex act in public — you could be involved without knowing it

Lily Phillips is using this sex act to stand out from competition (Picture: Lily Phillips/Instagram)

Most sex acts go on behind closed doors, but there’s one that is slowly edging its way onto Britain’s streets.

The so-called ‘cum walk’, is a sex act which involves a woman walking in public post-sex, with ejaculate on her face. Think of it like a much more graphic, and sexual, walk of shame.

It sounds niche, it’s not as unusual as you might think.

The behaviour was brought into mainstream porn by controversial OnlyFans star Lily Phillips this year, after she repeatedly took to the streets in London with semen on her face. The videos have made it onto TikTok, with one reaching almost five million views.

More recently, it’s become a topic of conversation on the podcast Savage Lovecast, hosted by US columnist, Dan Savage.

Dan admitted there’s a ‘whole genre of porn videos of “cum walks”‘. PornHub features videos with four million views a piece, and there’s an X account dedicated to the explicit walks with nearly 300,000 followers.

The history of the cum walk

Sex expert Annabelle Knight tells Metro the cum walk has evolved from another very common sex act.

‘Facials have been a staple in porn for decades, however the idea of someone deliberately walking around after sex with semen visible on their face is far newer,’ she says.

‘There isn’t a a clear moment when the term entered the sexual vocabulary, but it seems to have gained traction more recently with the rise of amateur content platforms like OnlyFans, where bold and attention-grabbing stunts are part of the culture.’

Think of Bonnie Blue’s 1,057 men in a day stunt, Annie Knight sleeping with 600 men in a year earning her the title of ‘Australia’s most sexually active woman’, or Lily Phillips attempting an anal marathon, each growing more extreme than the last to gain views.

Lily Phillips in the middle of an OnlyFans live on Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over (Picture: Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over/BBC)

‘When high profile stars from the porn industry like Lily Phillips perform these sexual stunts, it naturally sparks conversation,’ Annie, for Lovehoney, adds.

‘That doesn’t mean the practice itself becomes widespread, but it does highlight and move these niche fetishes into more mainstream discussions.’

The popularity of the cum walk is inevitably driven by a desire for these creators to stand out.

‘Porn has always had a performative side, but newer creators are turning to niche stunts to cut through,’ Anna says. ‘”Cum walks” are a response to this saturation – the novelty and performance will be what gets noticed.’

The obvious downside to this is that Lovehoney’s research shows 23% of men learn most about sex from porn, so acts like these foster misconceptions about what people enjoy sexually.

The issue of consent

What we do consensually in the privacy of our own bedrooms is usually no one else’s business, unless of course you post it on a porn site.

But if you take part in a a ‘cum walk’, are you implicating a passerby in a sex act they didn’t ask to be a part of?

On Dan Savage’s Savage Lovecast podcast, the question of consent is posed by a listener. Dan seems to think not, saying ‘[A witness would] have to realise what it is they saw… somebody’s got to clock your face, and then somebody’s got to realise what it is that’s all over your face.’

But the fact is, sex needs consent from all parties.

Annabelle says: The key issue is that sex and anything overtly sexual should always involve consent from everyone subjected to it.

‘It’s one thing to enjoy roleplay or exhibitionism in private, but when it moves into public spaces, there’s a responsibility to think about others, so it does raise important questions about exposing others to sexual content without their agreement.’

When it comes to it being an issue of sexual assault, partner at crime firm Olliers Solicitors, Tony Wilbraham, tells Metro it’s likely this sex act wouldn’t be sufficient to class as sexual assault.

Lily’s ‘cum walks’ are part of the performative culture of porn (Picture: Lily Phillips)

‘I do believe this could amount to the offence of “outraging public indecency” but only if people (a) realised that person was walking round with ejaculate on them, (b) if the police arrested them while it was happening and could prove it was semen and (c) if at least two members of the public witnessed it,’ Tony explains.

‘I have heard of this before, but I suspect if people did this, most people wouldn’t realise what was going on, and even if they saw them, they wouldn’t necessarily realise what the material was.

‘If the Police got a complaint that someone was doing this and didn’t arrest them in situ, then it would be difficult to prove what they were doing.’

Is the cum walk a common kink?

To put it bluntly, no.

‘This isn’t a mainstream turn-on in the way role play or bondage might be,’ Annabelle explains. ‘Instead it appeals to people with more niche kinks, like exhibitionism.’

The expert adds that the arousal of being watched or risk of being seen in a compromising way is what will be appealing when it comes to ‘cum walks’.

‘It’s about the erotic aesthetic of a facial, the thrill of public exhibitionism, and the performative element of shock value.’

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