Teddy Bear: Daddy Next Door host, porn superstar, artist, and activist for the follicle blessed
06 Feb 2019.

by Drew Rowsome -

"Pretty much most of the night will be fans coming up to me and asking if they can pet my fur," says porn star Teddy Bear of hosting Daddy Next Door. "I think it's like any gig. Go-go dance a little bit, talk to customers, meet a lot of fans." Teddy Bear has done his research by talking to previous hosts. "I'm friends with Billy Santoro and I'm really good friends with Michael Roman, Michael told me it's a really great event, it's fun, he made a lot of friends there. I'm excited. I think it's going to be a really good night."

Though he's only been working in porn for a little over a year, Daddy Next Door mastermind DJ Dwayne Minard is correct in promoting Teddy Bear as a "porn superstar." I've been go-go dancing for about six years and it was a normal transition. When I first started doing it, I contacted Steve Cruz at Raging Stallion and that's how I got discovered for my first foray into porn." The titles that followed, like Otter Erotic and Furgasm, got Teddy Bear a lot of attention. 

As did his hirsute body. "Pretty well every month, I get a fan message saying 'Thank you, you've inspired me so much to not be ashamed of being hairy,'" says Teddy Bear. "I've met guys who said they thought they were gross until they saw me and how I've stopped shaving. That means a lot to me. I know that lot of people say that porn doesn't matter but when I was a teenager and I was so grossed out that I had a hairy back, if I had seen a porn star openly embracing it and feeling attractive about it, it would have made things a whole lot easier."

It also helps with his successful OnlyFans and JustFor.Fans pages."The best thing about OnlyFans is that if you have a niche brand that certain studios may not particularly want," says Teddy Bear. "For example, my whole thing is that I refuse to shave or trim anything, so I have a hairy back which for a lot of porn companies is usually an issue. With OnlyFans, your fans are following you for you. You just have to be yourself."

But Teddy Bear has also worked for Bromo, Men.com, and TheGuySite. "I mainly work with Raging Stallion and that's the one I prefer because when I go there, it's like a second home. It's very easy to go in there," he says. "But I prefer my OnlyFans because at the end of the day I get to film my regular sex life. It's never acting. I can decide if I want to top, if I want to bottom, if I want to flip. I can decide where I want to do it, who I want as my partner. There's a lot more personal freedom. I get to do all the editing and all the promotion, so it feels more special to me."

It is the old adage, art is 10 percent inspiration and 90 percent perspiration. "I put a lot of work into it," says Teddy Bear. "There are models who don't like editing, or don't like setting up shoots or setting up cameras. It still is work so it's not for everybody. When I first started I got advice from another porn star and a director, basically with many stars you have about a year to get yourself known. You really need to put effort into it or you'll just be another flash in the pan. That's why I've put everything into my studio work, doing my website, doing also my store, I have an online shop where I sell Teddy Bear branded merchandise."

The online store, ShopTeddyBearUSA.com, not only carries a Teddy Bear calendar but also a variety of clever items that go far beyond porn swag. The store reflects Teddy Bear's background in fine art and costume design. "I joke that when I did costume design I got fucked more than I ever have in porn," he says. "But I am still a fine artist and I do pen and ink work under my real name. I don't hide it. On my OnlyFans, and on my Twitter, all my porn folders, people do know my real name and my artwork. I'm very open about that these are two different things. When I am being sexual and primal, that's Teddy Bear, but when I'm being artistic, that's Michael Volkar."

How did he come up with the name "Teddy Bear?" I tell him that researching before the interview was maddening because googling "Teddy Bear gay porn" didn't always lead to information about him. "You get some very odd images that may never have wanted to see," he says laughing. "I wanted to have a name that you either hate it or love it but you never forget it. I also wanted to always remind myself that porn is fun. Sometimes people take themselves too seriously and lose the fun in it. Generally I like when people comment, 'Oh my god, Teddy Bear I can't . . .' But it brings a smile to their face. On my OnlyFans page, the slogan I have is 'Fuck like a grizzly, cuddle like a teddy bear.'"

One interview I did manage to find, quoted Teddy Bear about safe sex in a way that he now calls "irresponsible." He explains, "Luckily when I film and have sex with other porn stars, we've all be tested. Very often. The problem is that if I fool around with anyone who isn't in the industry, I almost always wear a condom. Because there are a lot of people who aren't in the industry who aren't getting tested, are not on PrEP. That's still an issue out there." 

And while fans clamour to appear in videos with Teddy Bear, to pet his fur, there is another issue. "When you work with other stars you don't have the issue of that person deciding last minute that, 'Oh no, I don't want my image out there. Take my video down. I regret doing that.' That's why when I film, even if it's another star, I always make sure that they sign a release. And that I have a picture of their ID. I think a lot of people want to but once the reality hits, you're putting your whole entire self naked in front of the world. It's a fantasy that a lot of people have but that aren't able to fulfill. I understand that."

It takes a certain lack of inhibition to become a porn star. "I've never been a person who's been ashamed of nudity," says Teddy Bear. "I'd done naked photo shoots before, I've always drawn and done naked life drawings, way before that I did naked yoga. So being naked in front of people was never an issue and going just a little bit further and having sex in front of people wasn't that hard of a leap for me."

Teddy Bear has long term ambitions. "I just started adding new items to my Teddy Bear store that are getting locally produced and they're doing great," he says. "My goal this year is to have it more out there. Another personal goal of mine is to write a porn script and have a studio, preferably Raging Stallion, produce it. There is artistry in porn, I'm an artist and that part of me will fill anything I'm doing." 

And his immediate goals for Daddy Next Door? "That depends on how naked I can legally get."