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. 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 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.

History

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 Suns principal rival, The Daily Mirror, which was printing photos of models wearing lingerie or bikinis.

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 Diana, Princess of Wales and Margaret Thatcher. After leaving Page 3, she launched a successful singing career.

In 2020, Channel 4 produced an hour-long documentary, Page Three: The Naked Truth, to mark 50 years since The Sun first introduced Page 3. After becoming The Sun<nowiki/>'s editor in June 2013, David Dinsmore confirmed he would continue printing photographs of topless models, calling it "a good way of selling newspapers". Caroline Lucas criticized the transition to clothed glamour, saying: "So long as The Sun reserves its right to print the odd topless shot, and reserves its infamous page for girls clad in bikinis, the conversation isn't over."

Despite abolishing the feature in its print editions, The Sun continued publishing topless images on its official Page3.com website until March 2017. No new online content appeared after that point, and the website was taken offline in 2018. After it aired, it was the most popular search term on Wikipedia, garnering 589,000 page views in a single day.

For the month of June it tallied more than 800,000 views, against 25,000 for a typical month.

Publications

  • The Sun (1970s – January 2015)
  • The Daily Mirror / Sunday People (1970s – 1980s)
  • The Daily Star (1970s – April 2019)
  • The Sunday Sport / Midweek Sport / Weekend Sport (1986 – present)
  • The Daily Sport (1991 – April 2011)

See also

  • Page 3 culture
  • Hot Shots Calendar
  • Lad culture
  • Lad mags
  • Sunshine Girl

References

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Bibliography

  • Page Three girls – the naked truth from the BBC website

no:Side 3-piken