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Page 3
Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red top tabloids. First introduced in November 1969 by The Sun, the feature boosted the paper's readership and prompted competing tabloids—including The Daily Mirror, The Sunday People, and The Daily Star—to begin featuring topless models on their own third pages. Well-known Page 3 models included Linda Lusardi, Samantha Fox, Katie Price, and Keeley Hazell.
Although supporters of Page 3 defended it as a harmless British cultural tradition, the feature generated controversy throughout its history. It attracted criticism both from conservatives, who tended to view it as softcore pornography inappropriate for inclusion in national newspapers, and feminists, who argued that Page 3 objectified women's bodies, negatively affected girls' and women's body image, and perpetuated sexism. Labour Party MP Clare Short first began campaigning in the mid-1980s to have Page 3 images banned from newspapers; her efforts were subsequently supported by other MPs, including Harriet Harman, Stella Creasy, Lynne Featherstone, and Caroline Lucas. Some politicians, including Nick Clegg and Ed Vaizey, expressed concern that banning the feature would compromise press freedom. The British government never enacted legislation against Page 3.
In 2012, activist Lucy-Anne Holmes launched the No More Page 3 campaign with the goal of persuading newspaper editors and owners to voluntarily end the feature. The campaign collected over 240,000 signatures on an online petition and gained support from over 140 MPs, as well as trade unions, universities, and women's groups. In February 2013, Rupert Murdoch, owner of The Sun, suggested that Page 3 could become a "halfway house", featuring glamour photographs without showing nudity. In August of that year, The Sun replaced topless Page 3 girls with clothed glamour models in its Republic of Ireland edition. In January 2015, its UK editions also moved to a clothed glamour format, after printing topless Page 3 images for over 45 years. In April 2019, The Daily Star became the last print daily to cease printing topless images, ending the convention in Britain's mainstream tabloid press. As of 2026, the only British tabloid still publishing topless models is the niche Sunday Sport.
After Rupert Murdoch relaunched the loss-making Sun newspaper in tabloid format on 17 November 1969, editor Larry Lamb began to publish photographs of clothed glamour models on its third page to compete with The Sun's principal rival, The Daily Mirror, which was printing photos of models wearing lingerie or bikinis. The Sun's first tabloid edition showed that month's Penthouse Pet, Ulla Lindstrom, wearing a suggestively unbuttoned shirt. Page 3 photographs over the following year were often provocative, but did not feature nudity until The Sun celebrated the first anniversary of its relaunch on 17 November 1970 by printing model Stephanie Khan in her "birthday suit" (i.e. in the nude). Sitting in a field, with one of her breasts fully visible from the side, Khan was photographed by Beverley Goodway, who became The Sun's principal Page 3 photographer until he retired in 2003. Alison Webster took over Goodway's role in 2005 and remained until the feature was phased out.
Page 3 was not a daily feature at the beginning of the 1970s, and The Sun only gradually began to feature Page 3 models in more overtly topless poses. Believing that Page 3 should feature "nice girls", Lamb sought to avoid the image of top-shelf pornography titles by asking The Sun's female reporters to review Page 3 images to ensure women would not regard them as "dirty". Regardless, the feature, and the paper's other sexual content, led to some public libraries banning The Sun. A then Conservative-controlled council in Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire, took the first such decision, but reversed it after a series of local stunts organised by the newspaper and a change in the council's political orientation in 1971.
Page 3 is partly credited with boosting The Sun's circulation. In the year after it introduced Page 3, its daily sales doubled to over 2.5 million, and it became the UK's bestselling newspaper by 1978. Competing tabloids, including The Daily Mirror, The Sunday People, and The Daily Star, also began publishing topless models to increase their own sales, although The Daily Mirror and The Sunday People discontinued the practice in the 1980s, calling the photographs demeaning to women. In 1986, David Sullivan launched The Sunday Sport, which featured numerous images of topless models throughout each edition. In 1988, The Sun launched the companion feature "Page 7 Fella", which featured images of barechested male models. It did not gain popularity and was dropped in the 1990s.
Page 3 launched the careers of many well-known 1980s British glamour models, including Debee Ashby, Donna Ewin, Samantha Fox, Kirsten Imrie, Kathy Lloyd, Gail McKenna, Suzanne Mizzi, and Maria Whittaker, some of whom were aged 16 or 17 when they started modeling for the feature. Some Page 3 girls became well-known celebrities and went on to careers in entertainment. Fox, who began appearing on Page 3 as a 16-year-old in 1983, became one of the most-photographed British women of the 1980s, behind only Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher. After leaving Page 3, she launched a successful singing career.
In the mid-1990s, The Sun began printing Page 3 photographs in colour as standard, rather than mostly in black and white. Captions to Page 3 images, which had previously contained sexually suggestive double entendre, were replaced by a listing of models' first names, ages, and hometowns. It later added a "News in Briefs" item that gave the model's thoughts on current affairs. After polling readers, in 1997 The Sun ceased featuring models who had undergone breast augmentation, such as Katie Price and Melinda Messenger. In June 1999, it launched the official Page3.com website, which featured additional photos of current Page 3 models, archival images of former Page 3 models, and other related photo and video content.
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Page 3
Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red top tabloids. First introduced in November 1969 by The Sun, the feature boosted the paper's readership and prompted competing tabloids—including The Daily Mirror, The Sunday People, and The Daily Star—to begin featuring topless models on their own third pages. Well-known Page 3 models included Linda Lusardi, Samantha Fox, Katie Price, and Keeley Hazell.
Although supporters of Page 3 defended it as a harmless British cultural tradition, the feature generated controversy throughout its history. It attracted criticism both from conservatives, who tended to view it as softcore pornography inappropriate for inclusion in national newspapers, and feminists, who argued that Page 3 objectified women's bodies, negatively affected girls' and women's body image, and perpetuated sexism. Labour Party MP Clare Short first began campaigning in the mid-1980s to have Page 3 images banned from newspapers; her efforts were subsequently supported by other MPs, including Harriet Harman, Stella Creasy, Lynne Featherstone, and Caroline Lucas. Some politicians, including Nick Clegg and Ed Vaizey, expressed concern that banning the feature would compromise press freedom. The British government never enacted legislation against Page 3.
In 2012, activist Lucy-Anne Holmes launched the No More Page 3 campaign with the goal of persuading newspaper editors and owners to voluntarily end the feature. The campaign collected over 240,000 signatures on an online petition and gained support from over 140 MPs, as well as trade unions, universities, and women's groups. In February 2013, Rupert Murdoch, owner of The Sun, suggested that Page 3 could become a "halfway house", featuring glamour photographs without showing nudity. In August of that year, The Sun replaced topless Page 3 girls with clothed glamour models in its Republic of Ireland edition. In January 2015, its UK editions also moved to a clothed glamour format, after printing topless Page 3 images for over 45 years. In April 2019, The Daily Star became the last print daily to cease printing topless images, ending the convention in Britain's mainstream tabloid press. As of 2026, the only British tabloid still publishing topless models is the niche Sunday Sport.
After Rupert Murdoch relaunched the loss-making Sun newspaper in tabloid format on 17 November 1969, editor Larry Lamb began to publish photographs of clothed glamour models on its third page to compete with The Sun's principal rival, The Daily Mirror, which was printing photos of models wearing lingerie or bikinis. The Sun's first tabloid edition showed that month's Penthouse Pet, Ulla Lindstrom, wearing a suggestively unbuttoned shirt. Page 3 photographs over the following year were often provocative, but did not feature nudity until The Sun celebrated the first anniversary of its relaunch on 17 November 1970 by printing model Stephanie Khan in her "birthday suit" (i.e. in the nude). Sitting in a field, with one of her breasts fully visible from the side, Khan was photographed by Beverley Goodway, who became The Sun's principal Page 3 photographer until he retired in 2003. Alison Webster took over Goodway's role in 2005 and remained until the feature was phased out.
Page 3 was not a daily feature at the beginning of the 1970s, and The Sun only gradually began to feature Page 3 models in more overtly topless poses. Believing that Page 3 should feature "nice girls", Lamb sought to avoid the image of top-shelf pornography titles by asking The Sun's female reporters to review Page 3 images to ensure women would not regard them as "dirty". Regardless, the feature, and the paper's other sexual content, led to some public libraries banning The Sun. A then Conservative-controlled council in Sowerby Bridge, Yorkshire, took the first such decision, but reversed it after a series of local stunts organised by the newspaper and a change in the council's political orientation in 1971.
Page 3 is partly credited with boosting The Sun's circulation. In the year after it introduced Page 3, its daily sales doubled to over 2.5 million, and it became the UK's bestselling newspaper by 1978. Competing tabloids, including The Daily Mirror, The Sunday People, and The Daily Star, also began publishing topless models to increase their own sales, although The Daily Mirror and The Sunday People discontinued the practice in the 1980s, calling the photographs demeaning to women. In 1986, David Sullivan launched The Sunday Sport, which featured numerous images of topless models throughout each edition. In 1988, The Sun launched the companion feature "Page 7 Fella", which featured images of barechested male models. It did not gain popularity and was dropped in the 1990s.
Page 3 launched the careers of many well-known 1980s British glamour models, including Debee Ashby, Donna Ewin, Samantha Fox, Kirsten Imrie, Kathy Lloyd, Gail McKenna, Suzanne Mizzi, and Maria Whittaker, some of whom were aged 16 or 17 when they started modeling for the feature. Some Page 3 girls became well-known celebrities and went on to careers in entertainment. Fox, who began appearing on Page 3 as a 16-year-old in 1983, became one of the most-photographed British women of the 1980s, behind only Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher. After leaving Page 3, she launched a successful singing career.
In the mid-1990s, The Sun began printing Page 3 photographs in colour as standard, rather than mostly in black and white. Captions to Page 3 images, which had previously contained sexually suggestive double entendre, were replaced by a listing of models' first names, ages, and hometowns. It later added a "News in Briefs" item that gave the model's thoughts on current affairs. After polling readers, in 1997 The Sun ceased featuring models who had undergone breast augmentation, such as Katie Price and Melinda Messenger. In June 1999, it launched the official Page3.com website, which featured additional photos of current Page 3 models, archival images of former Page 3 models, and other related photo and video content.