The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Page 3 is 50 years old. A national institution or sexist throwback to darker times? David Barnett reveals all there is to know about the girls, the glamour and the grime of this very British phenomenon

Monday 16 November 2020 20:26 GMT

Nineties-style Page 3 starlets, (from left) Melinda Messenger, Jordan and Emma Noble, help to launch the Formula One racing season (PA)

In 1986 the teenage Tracy Kirby was sitting on the Tube when she noticed a man looking at her. Then he looked down at the newspaper he was reading, and back at Tracy. Then he asked her if she’d autograph his copy of the Sun in which Tracy had – unbeknown to her until that point – made her debut as a Page 3 model.

“I was so embarrassed. It was just awful,” laughs Tracy from her home in Essex. “I did sign it in the end, but I put my hand over my boobs while I did it. It was a mixture of being horrified and thinking, oh God, I’ve made it into the Sun.”

Some months earlier, 18-year-old Tracy’s boyfriend had suggested to her she should try modelling, to which she replied, “Don’t be ridiculous!” But he surprised her with a week-long modelling course as a Christmas present.

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1/16The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Rupert Murdoch took over The Sun in 1969. Page 3 was launched as part of its circulation war with the Daily Mirror

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Debee Ashby now lives on the Isle of Man and has become an agony aunt on OnlyFans

Debee Ashby

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Jim Davidson with (left) Linda Lusardi and Sam Fox (far left). Page 3 girls went on to have careers beyond the pages of The Sun

Fremantle Media/Rex

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Melinda Messenger, dressed in a tailor-made wetsuit, rides the surf in front of Tower Bridge to launch the new Sony Play Station video game

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Clare Short tried to get Page 3 banned via a parliamentary bill

David Rose/The Independent

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Campaigners protest over The Sun’s daily photographs of topless female models outside the UK offices of News International in east London in 2012

AFP via Getty

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The Sun lost a quarter of a million sales when it dropped Page 3 girls

Getty

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

James Brown: ‘We just really liked them, we were fans’

Rex

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Lucy Pinder (left) and Michelle Marsh pose for Loaded mag, which generally pictured Page 3 girls with their clothes on

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Tracy Kirby now runs her own beauty salon: ‘It’s a great market, being in Essex’

Tracy Kirby

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Men’s mags Zoo and Nuts filled the gap left by Page 3

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Laura Bates and Katie Price attend a debate ‘Does Page 3 make the world a better place?’ in 2014

Getty

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

OnlyFans is an online platform used by glamour models and the porn industry

OnlyFans

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The Page 3 football team at a fundraiser in 2004

Getty

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Kelvin MacKenzie: ‘If they asked me to edit the Sun again, guess what’s the first thing I’d bring back’

LNP/Rex

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Nineties-style Page 3 starlets, (from left) Melinda Messenger, Jordan and Emma Noble, help to launch the Formula One racing season

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The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

Page 3 is 50 years old. A national institution or sexist throwback to darker times? David Barnett reveals all there is to know about the girls, the glamour and the grime of this very British phenomenon

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The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

The story of Page 3, the models and how it came to an end

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