Olivia Bentley on Sex, Empowerment, and Why She Really Left Made in Chelsea

By Lauren Gordon
Made
Emma Pharaoh
Emma Pharaoh
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Olivia Bentley is just the same on TV as she is on my laptop screen — casual, beautifully glowing and incredibly welcoming. The Zoom call we've both logged onto feels like a chat with a friend — just two minutes in and she's already telling me about her second job as a participant of her local Neighbourhood Watch. We giggle about how much my mum and I love Made in Chelsea, the show that catapulted her to fame.

If you're unsure what I'm on about, Made in Chelsea (MIC) is a popular E4 reality TV show, which documents the glamorous lives and loves of Chelsea residents, including Bentley and her friends. She tells me she's done a total of eight seasons on the show, each of which I've watched — but when Bentley didn't return for the most recent season of the show, OG fans were dismayed. In March, a spokesperson for the show said Bentley was "taking a short but well-earned break" from MIC, to focus on her business, JOMO London.

As a fan, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity of asking Bentley what really happened behind the scenes. Bentley left the show after the breakdown of her on-off friendship/relationship with David 'Temps' Templer and things between her and longtime ex Tristan Phipps became difficult as they both attempted to move on. In lots of ways, it was difficult to watch. Her answer is incredibly honest — and a bit heartbreaking.

"I was struggling with deciding whether to stay on the show or not," she reveals. "The last series was really hard and speaking honestly, I was drinking a lot more than I normally do. I was drinking unnecessarily and to mask sadness. I was relying on booze to give me energy, make me feel happier, give me confidence — all the wrong reasons. I was trying to bring the energy to be the Liv that everyone thought I was. But inside, I was really unhappy, and that's why I stopped drinking," Bentley concludes. "But I'm still close with my friends who are on the show and our friendships have stayed the same."

One reason fans will be so desperate to see Bentley return to the show is her frankness and radical honesty, especially in talking about sex, something we rarely saw on MIC.

Bentley admits that being so candid wasn't easy: "I think I shocked people when I spoke about certain things on the show. People were very quick to slut-shame me for sleeping with someone who I'd end up in relationships with anyway, so it was hard to be judged for that. If it was a guy, they would get praised for it. But because I was a girl, it was instant slut-shaming."

"I know not everyone feels comfortable talking about uncomfortable things, whereas it doesn't bother me."

For the entirety of her time on the show, Bentley took pride in talking openly about sex, from revealing that she faked her orgasms with a past boyfriend to "vouching" for her co-star Harvey Armstrong after he was accused of being vanilla in bed. She justifies what was labelled by viewers as "outspoken" at the time, saying: "I grew up with four siblings and we all have very open conversations. But I know not everyone feels comfortable talking about uncomfortable things, whereas it doesn't bother me."

Channel 4

As a MIC fan, the differences between how men and women talk about sex on the show are glaringly obvious. The season one OGs — Spencer Matthews, Hugo Taylor and Jamie Laing — would often talk about "having fun" with multiple women, but when Lucy Watson joined the show and boasted about being a "female player", she was branded "not girlfriend material". And Bentley was unfortunately tarnished with the same brush.

"Guys can talk so freely about masturbation or having sex, but if girls suddenly start, everyone's like 'Oh my god' and it shouldn't be like that," she says. "Sex often comes across so negatively when it's actually such a positive thing. The more one just talks about it, hopefully the easier it is to have more conversations, whether it's good or bad. I'm pretty sure people, especially girls, have similar thoughts and experiences, but not everyone wants to talk about it."

Since leaving MIC and concentrating more on Jomo, the sexual wellness brand she co-founded, Bentley's become a kind of sex agony aunt, listening to young women who flock to her DMs to share their feelings of embarrassment and insecurity in the bedroom. She tells us: "You hear so many stories of people feeling self-conscious or insecure and it's always the smallest of things that have an impact, especially sexually. There's a lot of pressure on looks, to the point of affecting your confidence. For example, mine was massively knocked when I lost my hair. I was a bit ashamed about it and I was scared of sleeping with someone and my wig flying off, but we shouldn't care about that. So, I'd love for women to feel more empowered."

"It's always the smallest of things that have an impact, especially sexually."

Bentley has been open about her battle with alopecia, which started aged 16 and she believes was triggered by going on the pill. Bentley has spoken about being abused on social media for the condition and says she found empowerment in being open. She previously said: "Weirdly after speaking about it, now I don't worry about it at all, I don't wear my wig that much, I haven't worn it in ages really, it doesn't bother me at all."

Empowerment is one of the core values of Jomo, who have recently partnered with SheSpot, an inclusive online space transforming the often sleazy, overwhelming sex shop experience for the better. Together, Jomo and SheSpot are championing women's pleasure and bringing a sense of luxury to sexual experiences.

Jomo products, which can now be found on the SheSpot site, are all natural, an important feature for Bentley and co-founder, Bella Campbell. "A lot of the lube and sexual products out there can mess with your pH balance and the options for lube are pretty limited at the moment," Bentley admits. There are currently three Jomo products available: a CBD Calm Roller (£23), to ease stress, an Intimate Serum (£48), which is water-based, latex-friendly (a great pairing for toys and condoms) and contains a libido enhancer called L'Arginine. Their newest launch is a Luxury Arousal Oil (£48), which doubles as a sensual massage oil and an arousal oil.

"Sex has become more of an act than an experience — let's bring intimacy back."

"People don't realise that you're supposed to use lube during sex, whether you need it or not, and that masturbation is good for your mental health. If I can't sleep, I'll probably masturbate," Bentley shares. "The premise of our arousal oil is take time for yourself, rather than having some sort of self-quickie. And similarly, bringing back foreplay before sex. People don't tend to do that anymore. Sex has become so much more of an act than an experience, so take time for each other. Let's bring intimacy back."

From faking orgasms to actually enjoying sex, it's clear that Bentley has made the most of her sexual wellness ventures, and she has no plans to stop yet. As our chat draws to a close, she hints at working on something "very exciting" within the sexual wellness space, meaning her return to our screens might not be as soon as fans had hoped, despite her hints at a reunion with her former cast-mates.

Until then, you'll find Bentley on the Private Parts podcast, talking about the sordid details of her life with co-host Tom Lucy, from explaining the benefits of salmon sperm facials and freezing her eggs to sharing the odd requests from the depths of her DMs. Ah Liv, never change!

Lauren Gordon is the editorial coordinator at PS UK, where she creates lifestyle and identity content. Lauren has a degree in journalism from University of the Arts London and previously worked as a showbiz and TV reporter at The Mirror US. Lauren specialises in pop culture, hair and beauty, focusing on trends, sharing in-depth tutorials, and highlighting hidden gems in the beauty industry.