April Flores

Flores stated to have come from a strict religious family.[2] She is Ecuadorian from her father's side[2] and Mexican from her mother's side, and she calls herself “Mexidorian”.[9] When Flores was a child, she said she wanted to be a plastic surgeon simply because they made a lot of money.[2] Flores struggled with weight issues since childhood and she thought she would be happier if she was thin.[7] However, she abandoned the idea after losing weight in college and then concluding that life was “just the same” no matter her body size.[2][7]

Flores began her career doing pictorials for plus-size women’s magazines like Bizarre,[2] Juggs[3] and Big Butt Magazine (the latter of which she appeared on the cover on two separate occasions). In 2000, she began doing photo shoots for photographer Carlos Batts.[10] They eventually moved from photos to amateur film; at one point Batts also had fellow porn actress Belladonna as one of his clients. Belladonna and Flores began doing photo shoots together; this led to the two appearing in the film Evil Pink 2. This movie was Flores’s first filmed sex scene[10] as well as her first actual sexual experience; she lost her on-screen virginity to Belladonna on film.[2] Despite this, Flores considers Alter Ego to be her first official film.[10] She also considers herself an “erotic entertainer” rather than a porn star.

In 2005, Flores was invited to perform with Belladonna.[7] The film was April's first porn scene with a woman.[11] Flores confessed that she wore a wig during the performance so that if anyone brought it up she could deny that "that was not [her]!"[11] However, Flores enjoyed performing and was later invited to do more scenes.[7]

April's father passed away in 2001, so she never came out to him.[11] Flores admitted that she was scared to come out as a porn star to her mother. However, her mother was supportive of her career and became more supportive after Batts' death in 2013.[11]

Flores is supportive of her description as a BBW performer but chooses not to perform in traditional BBW porn, as she believes that it is derogatory towards its BBW performers.[7] She instead chooses directors and performers that she feels will represent larger women in a desirable and positive light.

In a 2015 article with Cosmopolitan Flores stated that she wants her work to show plus size women "that we are worthy of pleasure and desirability" and that she wants to reclaim the term "fat" to have a positive connotation instead of a negative one.[11]

In 2013 Flores co-authored and published a fine art book called Fat Girl with her husband just prior to his death. Published by Rare Bird Books, it represents a twelve-year collaboration the two as model and photographer.[12] The book was Batts' fourth publication.[8]

April Flores also contributed a chapter to The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure. In her chapter, "Being Fatty D: Size, Beauty, and Embodiment in the Adult Industry," Flores talks about how she came into the porn industry and her work to portray big women as sexual and desirable.[7]

Flores was married to Carlos Batts for 10 years until his death on October 22, 2013.[5] After his death a fundraiser called "Remembering Carlos" was hosted for April on November 13, 2013.[13] A silent art auction and PayPal account were set up to aid April in costly medical bills.[13]

In 2009, sex toy company Topco released Voluptuous Pussy, a life-size inflatable doll named after Flores's vagina but modeled as an exact replica of her entire body.[4][14] It is touted as “the first realistic plus-size sex toy”, and it is made out of Cyberskin material.[4][14]

Flores was the first plus-sized porn star to be on the cover of AVN magazine [7][15] and the first BBW to win an AVN award.[16]

Flores has her own show on SiriusXM's Vivid Radio called "Voluptuous Life" where she and her listeners talk about sex and educate each other.[16]

April's website, Fat Girl Fantasies, launched in Spring of 2015. Her website honors her relationship with her late husband, but also depicts "fat women as sexual beings" and reveals their sexual fantasies.[11]

• Belladonna
• Jiz Lee
• Shine Louise Houston
• Queer Pornography

Wikimedia Commons has media related to April Flores.

• Official website
• April Flores on IMDb
• April Flores at the Internet Adult Film Database
• April Flores at the Adult Film Database