Former Southampton Player Was Britain's Highest-Paid Pornstar In 2021

A former Southampton footballer made a dramatic career change to become Britain's highest-paid pornstar.

Danny Mountain (yes, that is actually his real name) was pushing become a professional player after signing with the Saints as a nine-year-old and had Chelsea, West Ham and Spurs interested in him.

The South Coast club have had many special academy prospects come through the ranks over the years, including the likes of Gareth Bale, Theo Walcott and James Ward-Prowse.

Mountain was also tipped to climb the ranks and he was highly thought of by England 1966 World Cup winner Alan Ball.

"Alan Ball paid me a few compliments - you can't get better than that," Mountain told the Daily Echo.

"He and Geoff Hurst were watching us train when I was about 12 and he said to my dad 'every ten to 15 years in this country we have a talent that sticks out from the rest and I believe your son may be that talent.' I was over the moon when he said that - I had the biggest head!"

But at the age of 16 his dream came to a crushing halt when he suffered a knee injury in a tackle. Southampton paid for him to have therapy and realising his playing days were over before they started, he then trained to be a carpenter.

Then, he stumbled across a very different opportunity and moved into the porn industry, where he has now starred in nearly 600 films, as per the Daily Star.

"I was dating a Page Three girl. Her agent wanted her to get into porn. She wasn't keen but he gave her the details of an audition in London and I went along. I didn't know what to expect but I was full of confidence.

"I wasn't at all nervous about the sexual part. I was worried about talking on camera - I couldn't control my face I was so nervous.

"When I told my mum she was a bit shocked. She had the same mentality as a lot of people - she thought it was going to be sleazy. But we had a serious talk about it and after a few months she didn't worry at all.

"She was worried that I was OK because I was only 19 but I was having a great time and flying all round the world and she realised how happy I was. My dad's a big kid. When I told him he was like 'go on my son!"

And it's worked out wonderfully since he made the surprise switch at the age of 20. Moving to Los Angeles, he's been married twice - to Eva Angelina and Mia Malkova and regularly played football with Jason Statham and Vinnie Jones.

According to Scorum Danny broke into the top ten for the highest-paid adult film stars in the world and has more than £1 million in earnings.

He's also a father to children - a girl called Silvi and a boy named Jaxon.

Another former footballer who turned to porn is Damian Oliver, who spent time at Crystal Palace's academy. He said working in the industry is "not as good as people think".