Page 62 - AVN MAY 2024

“It was just really great to have one night to just celebrate and be in the moment and just be happy.”
The native of Arizona, who is in his 10th year in adult, also had a front-row seat for her victory.
It was Steele, who along with Hime Marie and Melissa Stratton, presented Bardot with the Female Performer of the Year trophy. The couple shared a kiss and extended embraced at center stage in one of the signature moments of the 2024 ceremony.
“He’s been there with me almost since the very beginning,” Bardot tells AVN. “So he’s really seen all these things I went through, all these different stages, things I dealt with. Especially the awards being so close right after my mom’s funeral was a lot. And he knew how much this meant to me.
“It was just really great to have one night to just celebrate and be in the moment and just be happy.”
Bardot lost her mother unexpectedly in December 2023, receiving the news the day after she returned from a Vixen Angel trip to Tulum, Mexico. She says her mom had been struggling with various medical issues for years.
“It was really hard,” says Bardot, who decided to remain as the lead actress in an upcoming feature for Wicked Pictures a week later. “I didn’t know if I was going to do it or not and [directors Michael Vegas and Siouxsie Q] were like, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll find another project for you in the future.’
“They had made the story for me. But I wanted to still be able to get it done. I tried to use it as a distraction from what was happening.”
Bardot’s first thought after her night full of honors was her mom.
“It was really hard because the first person I wanted to call to tell about my success was her,” Vanna says. “She was my number one fan. She was the first person I told about everything and she was always so cool about it and supported me.”
As she looks ahead, Bardot tells AVN she is planning to relaunch her OnlyFans soon in addition to being selective with her studio bookings. She recently shot a pair of new anal scenes for Jules Jordan Video, including one with Jordan himself.
“Working on my own content and my own platforms is my biggest goal for this next year,” Vanna says. “I’m really glad that I did put in so much energy into awards seasons and trying to do these big movies. It’s really benefited me now.
“I’m getting so many opportunities because of my wins and my success and now I really want to use that to my full advantage. I don’t want it to be a wasted opportunity. I want to collab with people and grow my own personal brand.”
62 AVN.COM | 5.24 | VANNA BARDOT