Contrary to popular misconception, porn isn’t all blow jobs and dick pills – the industry, much like many industries, really knows how to suck sometimes.

Earlier this week, u/Shyandhorny95 took r/AskReddit with a fascinating inquiry for the fine adult performers of the platform: “Men in the porn industry: What are the dark and hidden truths of the industry?”

Garnering more than 16,000 upvotes, several porn stars and those related to porn stars took to the forum sharing the several shortcomings of the adult entertainment industry.

“A friend of mine was a cameraman in the valley for a company and told me that substance abuse was pretty rife,” explained u“Kolipe, noting that the problem was so extensive that it had “the female talent showing up with empty liquor bottles in their cars.”

“Another was just how shitty it can be to be a cameraman sometimes which he was,” they elaborated before detailing just how gruesome some of the angles could be. “He specifically told of a scene he filmed where he had to get underneath the man getting blown and just globs of spit would fall onto his forehead while he filmed that part of the scene. It was just so fuckin gross to me, lmao.”

The pay too was less glamorous than one would seemingly expect.

“Former gay porn actor: You get paid more or less depending on what you’re willing to do,” wrote u/Electronic_Flan_133, noting that “the least amount is simply nude posing or jacking off on camera” whereas “the most one would get paid for is double penetration or being the bottom in an orgy.”

“Also a lot of gay porn actors aren’t actually gay,” they added. “They simply do it for the money and they’re on so many pills like viagra and blue chew that they develop erectile dysfunction by the time they’re in their 40s.”

The literal, day-to-day hazards of boning on camera for a living aren’t great either, as several users explained.

“I worked on one adult set and bro. The smell. Ungodly. I'll never forget it,” recalled u/gunterzwei. “I dry heaved for about 20 minutes and couldn't go back into the room. Something deep was unlocked.”

Frigid temperatures, too, played a role in on-set misery — especially when it came to showering shots.

“All those shower scenes are super cold,” remembered u/Fangehulmesteren.  “We’re freezing our asses off in there because otherwise the camera lenses and equipment would be fucked from the steam.”

Hot … or should we say cold. Very cold.