‘I’m a a full-time porn star and here’s why I changed careers from a physical therapist ‘

Being in the porn industry isn’t for everyone, but former physical therapist Cherie DeVille decided to leave her old job behind and jump head first into a new adult career

Cherie DeVille has made a name for herself in the porn industry over the last decade, but it wasn’t always her career of choice.

The 45-year-old has more than 12 years experience in the adult entertainment business and has worked with studios such as Evil Angel, Penthouse and Brazzers. However, Cherie didn’t originally plan on becoming a porn actress and instead started her professional life as a physical therapist.

Cherie, whose real name is Carolyn Paparozzi, worked all over America as a physical therapist until everything changed in 2011 when a photographer friend asked her to model for him. In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, Cherie has explained what made her leave her old job behind.

Cherie DeVille is a big name in the porn industry ( Image: cheriedevillexo/Instagram)

She used to have a completely different job ( Image: Getty Images for XBIZ Awards)
“For me, it was really, really gradual. I didn’t just one day decide I was going to quit being a physical therapist and start being an adult performer,” she explained. “In fact, my original I guess foray into sex work was just as a a weekend job.”

Cherie explained how she was “totally satisfied” with her work as a physical therapist and initially had no interest in changing careers. However, Cherie changed her mind when a friend introduced her to the website Model Mayhem.

She explained: “She and I had done some pin up photos together already that were nude. So I was very comfortable with that and I got onto the websites and that’s kind of when I started doing my first sex work, which was nude modelling.”

Cherie initially thought her porn career would end there. However, she told us: “I was just loving it. And that is where I thought it would stop as sort of a little side hustle, a little extra money, some joy to bring to myself in that creative outlet.

“Until I got a message on sexyjobs.com from my current adult film agent, Sandra from OC Modelling.” Sandra asked Cherie if she would be interesting in going to Los Angeles to shoot some videos.

She changed careers after a modelling shoot ( Image: instagram.com/cheriedevillexo)

Cherie was initially uncertain but after a quick Google search, her mind was made up. There was also another key factor in her decision making. She explained: “I thought, look, I have a job. This is probably not for me, but I can’t say no to this.

“It was almost like a feeling of FOMO, like I can’t be 90 years old and say, ‘Oh, I could have done this amazing erotic film and had this unbelievable experience but I turned it down.'”

Cherie thought her porn career would end after a week of filming, but she said she “loved it so much” that she decided to make it a long-term thing. For years she tried juggling porn with her therapy work but was forced to make a decision as her career took off.

She told us: “At one point I was going there [to LA] once every few months. And then I was going once every month. And I got to the point where I was spending two weeks out of every month in Los Angeles. And I said, ‘This is not your side hustle.'”

After eventually moving to LA, Cherie cut her physical therapy schedule down to two days a week so she could focus the rest of her time on adult work. She explained: “I was focused on it more as a business at that point and it kept growing and growing and growing.”

Everything changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, when studio work stopped. Cherie decided to focus on building her online presence and found that her following blew up. She said: “When the world opened back up, I had become so busy with my online platform that I actually didn’t really have time to do both jobs. And finally I took that one little toe in therapy out.”