Joel Dommett is basically the face of wholesome British Saturday night TV now. You see him on The Masked Singer, grinning in sharp suits, and he seems untouchable. But go back to 2016, right before he headed into the I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! jungle, and things were messy. A video surfaced. People called it the Joel Dommett sex tape, but the reality behind those headlines is a lot darker than a simple "leak." It wasn't a disgruntled ex or a stolen phone. It was a targeted, years-long "catfishing" sting that turned into a case of digital extortion.
Honestly, it’s the kind of thing that could have ended a career. Most celebs would have gone into hiding or issued a stiff, legalistic "no comment." Joel didn't do that. He talked about it. Loudly.
The "Porno Gogglebox" Incident
The story didn't start in 2016. It actually began years earlier when Joel was in his 20s. He was messaged on Twitter by someone calling themselves "Staci Taylor." She was attractive, or at least the pictures were. They started chatting. Eventually, she suggested "Skype sex."
Joel admitted he was "naive." He agreed.
But there was a catch—"Staci" claimed her microphone was broken. She could see him, but he was essentially watching a pre-recorded video of someone else. Joel was performing for a ghost. He later described the experience as a "porno Gogglebox," where he was the only one actually participating while a scammer on the other end hit the record button.
👉 See also: Michael Joseph Jackson Jr: What Most People Get Wrong About Prince
- The Victim: Joel Dommett.
- The Hook: A fake Twitter persona named Staci Taylor.
- The Method: Skype video call with "broken audio" (a classic scammer tactic).
- The Gap: The video was recorded years before it was actually leaked.
Why wait? That’s the sinister part of these scams. The footage was kept in a "digital vault" until Joel’s profile grew. When he was announced for I’m A Celeb, the scammers saw their window. A Twitter account called CelebrityBusted followed him. Their bio was a direct threat: "If we follow you, we have naked pictures of you. DM us to stop us from releasing them."
It was blackmail. Plain and simple.
Why the Joel Dommett sex tape didn't ruin him
In the mid-2010s, a "sex tape" was usually a PR death sentence. But the public reaction to Joel was different. Why? Because he took the power away from the blackmailers by being brutally honest about being a victim.
He didn't pretend it wasn't him. He didn't claim he was hacked.
✨ Don't miss: Emma Thompson and Family: What Most People Get Wrong About Her Modern Tribe
While sitting in the jungle with campmates like Scarlett Moffatt and Martin Roberts, he just laid it out. He called himself "naive." He joked that it was a "terrible angle." By laughing at himself, he made it impossible for anyone else to use the video as a weapon against him.
A shift in how we view "leaks"
The Joel Dommett sex tape controversy actually served as a turning point in how the British media handles celebrity privacy. Before this, "nude leaks" were treated as scandalous gossip. After Joel, the conversation shifted toward "sextortion" and "catfishing."
The Samaritans even got a shout-out from Joel in a Facebook post he wrote after leaving the jungle. He wrote it from the perspective of "Joel Dommett's penis," which sounds ridiculous, but it worked. It was funny, vulnerable, and it highlighted that this is a "new type of crime" affecting people far beyond just celebrities.
He basically said: Yeah, this happened. It's horrific. But I'm going to laugh so I don't cry.
🔗 Read more: How Old Is Breanna Nix? What the American Idol Star Is Doing Now
The reality of modern sextortion
What happened to Joel is a textbook example of a "catfishing" scam that still claims victims every single day. Scammers use high-quality stolen videos to mimic a real person on camera. They target people who are likely to be embarrassed or have something to lose.
- Identity Verification: If someone refuses to speak on audio or show their face clearly in real-time, it’s a red flag.
- The Long Game: Scammers can wait years for your "value" to increase before they leak or blackmail.
- Legal Recourse: Sharing private sexual images without consent is a crime in the UK (and many other places). It's not a "leak"; it's a criminal act.
Turning a scandal into a career boost
Most people expected the video to be his downfall. Instead, he became the runner-up of the season. His honesty made him relatable. People didn't see a "scandalous actor"; they saw a guy who got tricked and handled it with more grace than most world leaders.
He’s now married to model Hannah Cooper and hosts some of the biggest shows on television. The "sex tape" is a footnote, a weird story from his past rather than the defining moment of his career.
If you find yourself in a similar situation—whether you're a public figure or not—the best path forward is often the one Joel took.
Don't pay. Paying the blackmailers rarely works; they just come back for more.
Report it. Use platforms like the Cyber Helpline or local law enforcement.
Talk about it. Shame is the scammer's greatest tool. If you take away the shame, you take away their power.
Take a page out of Joel's book. Acknowledge the mistake, keep your head up, and maybe make a joke about the camera angle. It’s a lot harder for people to laugh at you when you’re already leading the punchline.
Practical Steps for Online Privacy
- Check your privacy settings on social media to see who can message you directly.
- Never engage in video calls with people you haven't verified through other means (like a mutual friend or a physical meeting).
- Use a "burn" email or secondary account for dating apps if you’re worried about your primary identity being linked to a scam.
- If a leak happens, document everything (screenshots of threats/URLs) before reporting and requesting takedowns through Google’s "Personal Information Removal" tools.