I’m Britain’s ‘most famous streaker’

WHEN Erika Roe whipped her top off and streaked across the pitch during an England versus Australia rugby match at Twickenham in January 1982, she made headlines around the world. She was only 24 at the time and the sight of her buxom curves racing around the pitch lifted the spirits of all who saw her, while England went on to win the match 15-11. Now, 43 years on, Erika - who has been dubbed "the most famous British streaker ever" - says: “It was an impulse. I was at the rugby with my sister and a group of her friends.

Image Credit: The Sun [Erica Roe, known as Britain's most famous streaker, on a TV program.]

"One of the guys had the hots for me and was irritating me so I left the stands to wander down to the pitch. “I’d visited the beer tent – but I wasn’t slaughtered. At half time the crowd appeared bored by a man dressed as a gorilla trying to entertain them. "Then someone shouted ‘Doesn’t someone streak now?’. "If I’d given it a thought it wouldn’t have happened, but I found myself taking off my top and bra and racing across the pitch.

Image Credit: The Sun [A streaker is escorted from a rugby pitch by two policemen.]

Everyone seems to be naked [now]... They’ve all got their t**s, bums and tummies hanging out all the time. There are no boundaries. “I heard the crowd roaring and presumed the match had restarted, I turned around but the players were still chatting and I realised they were cheering for me. It was fantastic, such a buzz.”. Erika was giggling as she was escorted off the pitch by a policeman, his helmet covering her breasts, and taken to the police station.

Fortunately, buoyed up by England’s victory, she wasn’t fined and was free to go to the pub with her friends to celebrate. She did temporarily lose her job at a book shop in Petersfield, Hampshire, over the stunt - but was given a second chance by her boss. Despite myriad offers to capitalise on her fame – including thousands from adult magazine Penthouse to be their centrefold – Erika has largely turned her back on it.

Image Credit: The Sun [Black and white photo of a female streaker running across a rugby pitch.]

She did appear on The Island with Bear Grylls in 2016, but now lives simply in the Algarve in Portugal in a converted goat house. And she acknowledges that anyone streaking now would barely create a ripple of interest. Champions League streaker Kinsey Wolanksi is one of the very few streakers to make a name for themselves since Erika, and has 4million Instagram followers after her stunt at the 2019 final to promote her boyfriend's adult website.

Image Credit: The Sun [Portrait of Erika Roe, the Twickenham Streaker, by a swimming pool.]

But Erika wouldn't encourage others to follow her now. “What’s the point? There would be no excitement – everyone seems to be naked, everywhere,” she says. “They’ve all got their t**s, bums and tummies hanging out all the time. There are no boundaries, we’re inundated with nudity. “Even celebrities are constantly showing their knickers and bras. It’s a shame, there’s no mystique any more, no one special like Audrey Hepburn.

Image Credit: The Sun [Crowd holding sign that says "Stop the Rugby Bring on Erika" with a drawing of a woman.]

I’m closer to 70 then 60, I’ve got grey hair, but I know I still look good, because I’m real – I get 33-year-old men chasing after me. “And everyone wants to be famous and will do anything to get there. It seems like a very false life played out on social media. "I was on a plane the other day watching a girl in front of me going through her holiday pictures, she was editing them and putting different backgrounds on, it was all a lie.

Image Credit: The Sun [Collage of photos of famous sports streakers.]

“On another occasion I was in a public loo and watched a girl taking endless photos of herself, fiddling with her hair and different poses, clicking away. "I just thought what a waste of a life – worrying what people think about your appearance. And the girls aren’t sexy anyway, they all look the same with bloated lips, false boobs and too much make-up. “I’m closer to 70 then 60, I’ve got grey hair, but I know I still look good, because I’m real – I get 33-year-old men chasing after me.”.

Image Credit: The Sun [Woman smiling, holding a shotgun, wearing boots.]

Despite this Erika has largely been single for the past 20 years, bar a few liaisons. “Men can’t handle me,” she says, “I’m a very strong character and very outspoken. I’d love to fall in love again – but there are very few real men around. "I don’t mean macho men, but big hunky, hot, screwable men, with a strong personality who know how to appreciate a strong woman.”. Thus far Erika hasn’t found lasting love. Three years after her infamous streak, aged 27, she became a single mum to her now 40-year-old daughter.

Image Credit: The Sun [Smiling woman standing on a beach.]

She then went on to to marry her ex-husband and 36 years ago moved to Portugal and had two more children, now aged 35 and 30, but sadly she split up with her husband in 2005. She says: “I don’t fall in love often but when I do I fall hard. When my husband left me I was devastated, it felt like the end of the world, it was the hardest time in my life. "My children saw me through it. At the time we owned a farm and I stayed there, working all the hours god gives.”.