Former Page 3 model Nicola McLean has claimed young women are being "pushed down a dark route" following the end of topless newspaper features.

Speaking to GB News after the Daily Star announced it would scrap Page 3 girls completely, McLean expressed concern about the impact on aspiring models.

The Daily Star's decision marks the end of an era, as it was the last remaining tabloid to feature topless models after The Sun axed Page 3 in 2015.

The Sun originally introduced topless glamour models on Page 3 in 1970 under Rupert Murdoch, with other tabloids including the Daily Mirror, The Sunday People and Daily Star following suit.

Nicola McLean has claimed young women are being "pushed down a dark route"

The Sun axed Page 3 girls in 2015, while the Daily Star announced in 2019 that women would have their nipples covered. Now the ReachPLC-owned company is pulling the plug completely, with a source confirming to MailOnline: "It's finishing."

As of this summer, the Daily Star will no longer dedicate a section of page 3 to glamour models, marking the complete end of the tradition that launched careers including Katie Price, Samantha Fox and Kelly Brook.

Speaking to GB News, former Page 3 girl McLean said: "It's really tricky because I absolutely loved being a Page 3 girl, and although I've gone on to do TV, I'm probably one of the only girls that will still come forward and say I loved it, and I wouldn't be where I am now without it.

"I understand that it's not got a place anymore as the biggest sort of picture of a woman in a newspaper to be topless, I get it.

"But for me, what I think is sad is that without the lads' mags and Page 3, it's pushed loads of girls down the darker route of OnlyFans, and I don't think people would have gone as far as they are on OnlyFans if they could still just do the Page 3 and lad mag. I just loved doing it."

She added: "I am a feminist, I thought being a feminist means that we want women to have the right to do whatever we want.

"We want to be able to buy houses, we want to be able to have abortions, we want to be able to do topless modelling if we want to.

"And I did want to, I wasn't pushed into it, I absolutely loved it. Some of my greatest memories are doing Loaded magazine, posing topless for The Sun and the Daily Star.

"I genuinely really enjoyed it. I grew up on a council estate, academically I'm not that bright, but I'm a good businesswoman. I knew how to make money, and I really enjoyed doing it.

"As I say, I've been interviewed before where people have gone, 'Oh, well, could you not have just gone on The Only Way Is Essex?'

The Sun axed Page 3 girls in 2015, while the Daily Star announced in 2019 that women would have their nipples covered.

"We want to be able to buy houses, we want to be able to have abortions, we want to be able to do topless modelling if we want to.

"Well, I'm not from Essex, and no, that wouldn't have been a route I would have gone down. I went down the glamour model route, and it led me to the biggest shows on telly.

"As I say, the feminists then want to say, 'Oh, you're exploiting yourself,' but I'm allowed, that is my choice, isn't it? So I just think it's sad that it's been stopped by women, basically."