(O)Kay

The sex symbol of the ’90s. Samantha Janus - Eurovision at 18, #21 on FHM’s 100 Sexiest Women in the World, on air 16 weeks straight in 4 different shows. $400,000 a year at her peak and $1.5 million in the bank today. And in 1998 a late-night host looked her in the eye on live TV and said: “You look hot - take it off.” It was 1998, and she was everywhere. “Game On” had made her the face of every lad’s mag in Britain. FHM put her in the top 21 sexiest women on the planet. Seven years earlier she had sung for the UK at Eurovision as a teenager. Then she walked into a late-night chat show - and the host had zero interest in her career. He asked if she owned a spanking shop in Soho. He asked her to fall down the stairs. She did. He asked about her feud with her best friend Denise Van Outen - the one every tabloid in the country was writing about. Her answer: it was fake. “We were trying to manipulate press stories.” They invented it together. The press fell for every word. 16 weeks on air. 4 shows at once. A top-21 FHM ranking. And the interview still ended with “You look hot - take it off.” Nine years later she joined EastEnders and stayed for a decade. She played Eggsy’s mum in Kingsman and starred in the West End. Today she goes by Samantha Womack, with $1.5 million in savings - and almost nobody remembers the night she played the British press and won. Would you take it off?