Dating a Porn Star Is as Awesome as It Sounds

Joanna Angel. Photo via Flickr user Alain_Christian

Millions of teenaged boys fantasize about dating a porn star, but it takes a grown man with confidence, stamina, and balls to actually pull it off. I wanted to find out what type of guys are dating some of the dreamiest girls in porn, so I reached out to three of the lucky boyfriends. Aaron has been with punk princess Joanna Angel for three years. While he works primarily as a graphic designer, he’s now done nearly 30 films himself after being “brought over to the dark side” by his better half. Tyler, a student, dates America’s favorite political parody star Sydney Leathers. His parents knew about the Weiner scandal before he did. And Donald, a doctor and dating coach, is enjoying his own fairytale romance with the self-proclaimed “nastiest broad you will ever meet,” Annie Cruz.

Aaron, boyfriend of Joanna Angel

VICE: Hi, Aaron! How’d you get your porn name?
Aaron: My real name is Aaron; my porno name is Small Hands. I have very tiny hands for a grown ass man. When it came time to fill out paperwork I was like “Oh, shit. I don’t even have a name.” So I just picked something that I thought would be funny, because you know the myth about small hands…

Yes. I’ve learned the hard way that it’s not true.
Yeah. I wanted something funny because I like to joke. Before dating Joanna I had no prior experience on that side of the camera. And I’m not technically a porn guy; I still have my other career. I do [porn] when the queen demands it, basically!

What’s your main career?
I’m a graphic illustrator and graphic designer. I design company websites; that’s also how I [met] Joanna. She was a client of mine, [prior] to us dating. I design all of her DVD and movie covers, all the posters that promote her company, all the merchandise. That’s my main gig. A mutual friend of ours set us up first for business and then we went from there.

Everyone does the best they can. You come home, you’re tired. We might make a little dinner, walk the dog, and snuggle up.

In the early days of your relationship, what was it like to be dating a porn star?
At the beginning it was a little… hard isn’t the right word, no pun intended. It was unfamiliar; the whole industry was something I didn’t know anything about. I didn’t know how it worked. I’ve played in bands for many years. To me, the music business is very similar to the porn industry. Obviously as our bond strengthened and as I learned about this whole new world, it became more comfortable.

So how did Joanna bring you over to the porn world?
Basically, we were traveling and something happened with a hard drive. A website needs to be updated regularly and something happened where the updates got lost. Who knows what happened. She was like, “We really need to put something up on the website. You think you could make something happen [in our hotel room]?” I was a little reluctant. It wasn’t something I was prepared for, but obviously I love my girlfriend, I love her company [Burning Angel], and she needed something. So I said “OK! I will do my very best.” We filmed something very simple in the hotel room; that was surprisingly pretty easy for me and I did a decent enough job. It got a pretty good response so we [thought], Why don’t I keep doing this because it helps the company?

Related: Check out our documentary on legendary porn star Belladonna.

Has your relationship changed since you began doing porn yourself?
It’s made it stronger. Now that I know how it works, all the things that [would cause] a normal dude to say “Isn’t this hard?” are no big deal. The common [question is] “How do you date someone who has sex with other dudes?” Now I know the reality of how it works. This is a company owned by a woman. It’s an extremely controlled environment. It’s safe. It’s the most non-creepy thing, given what we’re doing.

How does it affect your sex life when you’ve both been filming? Are you ever too tired for sex with each other?
On days that we’re shooting, we’re probably not going to have some kind of crazy two-hour long Kama Sutra sex. Joanna is not only a performer; she directs everything and she runs the company. You’re talking 14-hour days: You’re exhausted whether you have sex or not. Everyone does the best they can. You come home, you’re tired. We might make a little dinner, walk the dog, and snuggle up. On the other days, we’re just like any other couple. We like to have sex and have fun, but we’re just more open about it.

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Tyler, boyfriend of Sydney Leathers

VICE: Hey, Tyler! What’s it like having a girlfriend who’s always in the spotlight?
Tyler: People definitely ask about her. People pretend to know her, and us and our relationship, because she is in the spotlight from time to time. This recent scandal she was going through with this congressman from Indiana was in the local news. So people were like, “I saw your girlfriend in the news.” I don’t think she follows any stigma [when] it comes to porn; she’s not [how] you would imagine a porn star. She has a bad name, but it’s really not like that at all!

How do you feel about Sydney’s porn career?
I don’t hate that she does porn whatsoever. I never judged her. It makes my life very interesting! She’s not what she seems like; her reputation is not as good as her actual personality. When I talked to her and met her, I definitely wasn’t planning on dating and moving in together. We really do have amazing chemistry, it’s crazy.

What do you guys like to do together?
We are very similar in many ways but totally opposite in many others. She’s kind of introverted and I’m more sociable. It’s good because it balances out. If I were a total political junkie and exactly the same as her, we’d be talking over each other. I’m very analytical and technically-minded. You’d expect porn stars to date other porn stars, if they are going to date anybody. I was kind of shocked in the beginning just how affectionate she could be instead of Oh, she’s just going to fuck me!

My best friends are supportive. If anything, people are more respectful of her.

How do your friends react?
My best friends are supportive. If anything, people are more respectful of her. I think I had a skewed idea of how the porn industry works. It’s very mechanical and not what you expect. The average porn viewer is not getting an accurate interpretation of what’s going on. They’re actually human beings, believe it or not.

It sounds like you’re very supportive and caring.
I’m protective, but we have a lot of trust built up, or else it wouldn’t work. We do fully trust each other and tell each other everything. We’ve talked about intimacy and it’s not just sex; it’s more about sharing the same goals and aspirations. She’s helping me move my life forward.

I was reading about the scandal with the Indiana Congressman (“Bitch Boy“) and read he wanted to watch you two have sex from a closet?
A lot of people want to fuck my girlfriend. I was never threatened by him. It was actually really cool; he was super respectful. On my birthday he said, “Happy birthday, Master Tyler.”

Are you ever going to do porn?
No. But everyone thinks we must have the greatest sex life. And we do have the greatest sex life!

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Donald, boyfriend of Annie Cruz

VICE: When I first heard Annie was dating a doctor, I was surprised. How did you two meet?
Donald: I was at the AVN Awards. I just went to chase a lot of hot girls and have a really good time. A few days before I was supposed to head out to Vegas, I called a couple of my buddies and I’m like “Let’s make this an even more stupid drunken time. We’re all going to wear superhero costumes.” I got in before all my friends did, grabbed a bottle of Cruzan rum, and went up to my room at the Hard Rock Hotel. And I was like, “I don’t need to wait for anyone! I’m going to have a good time by myself!” I threw on my Captain America costume and took a swig of rum.

Most of the other people at AVN are overweight porn fans, so you get a guy that knows how to talk to girls and is wearing a Captain America costume, having a great time, and girls are just loving it. We start talking some shit to each other and I scoop her up in my superhero arms. Being the slut that she is, she’s like “I’m not wearing any panties.” And being the slut that I am, I lick my fingers and am like “Let’s find out.”

I’ve been on set before and watched her get plowed by a big Russian cock and gave her a high five.

Then what happened?
I didn’t know that she had a radio show. So whatever day I got back [from Vegas], I tune in. I’m wondering if she’ll mention anything, and she spends the entire hour of her show describing in detail all the sexcapades that we had. To dump my ex-girlfriend, I sent her the audio.

What’s it like dating a porn star compared to dating a “civilian”?
I’ve kind of had a stepwise progression into dating more and more sexual women. Lawyers and doctors, bartenders and cocktail waitresses and strippers, and then after that, I started dating porn girls. I’ve kind of segwayed my way into it. I’ve had a lot of experience with open relationships; I’ve had sex in sex clubs before. I’ve been on set before and watched her get plowed by a big Russian cock and gave her a high five. Like, “Yeah baby, get it!”

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