CHATSWORTH, Calif.—One is a curvy all-natural blonde with a winning smile who’s known for her powerful hardcore scenes. The other is a heavily tattooed performer who’s been lauded for both sexual prowess and acting chops in such quirky alt-porn productions as Evil Head, Band Sluts, Vampire Cheerleaders, Re-Penetrator and Walking Dead: A Hardcore Parody. And they’ll be appearing together on stage as the AVN Awards Show co-hosts on January 23, 2016.
Waitaminute ... wasn’t that 2015?
Well, yes and no. This year the beautiful porn goddess is Anikka Albrite and the inked adult thespian is Joanna Angel—two performers who, like Alexis Texas and Tommy Pistol, offer a combination of talent, sexy appeal and all-around star power that will fuel the 2016 show.
Though neither star has hosted the show before, fans will remember them well from recent awards programs.
Angel has been on stage multiple times, both as a presenter and an award winner, and last year served as the backstage host, interviewing winners after their victories. Her first win was at the 2006 ceremony, when Re-Penetrator won for Most Outrageous Sex Scene, and she’s also picked up AVN Awards multiple times for Best Porn Star Website and Best Solo Sex Scene, in addition to many other industry accolades.
But even more than her achievements as a performer, Angel is known as the co-founder of BurningAngel, an adult studio and membership site. The unquestioned leader of the alt-porn movement, Angel brought a new aesthetic to the adult industry.
"The first AVN I attended was 10 years ago—my website was brand new, I barely knew anyone in the industry," Angel said. "A friend of a friend got me a ticket and it truly was a life changing moment for me. To think of all the events that have transpired from then till now to get me where I am today ... it just doesn't feel real. I am so thankful for this opportunity—I'm thrilled and excited, and I hope to be the best host there ever was! Excluding Tommy Pistol, because that's just impossible."
Albrite was first nominated for AVN Awards in 2013, including in the prestigious Best New Starlet category, but it was in the next two years that she went on to dominate the proceedings. In 2014 she won three awards, including Best Anal Scene for her anal debut in Anikka (Hard X/O.L. Entertainment), which brought her up on stage with her scene partner and then fiancé, Mick Blue.
The following year Albrite racked up five wins, including the adult industry’s top honor: AVN Female Performer of the Year—which was announced just moments after her now husband was crowned Male Performer of the Year, making the pair the first married performers to ever jointly win the titles.
"It was a huge honor to have been given the title of Female Performer of the Year for 2015, and never in my dreams did I think I would be chosen for hosting the awards for 2016," Albrite commented. "I'm really honored and excited and very nervous. I can't wait to host it with Joanna—I've never worked with her before but I've always admired her, so it's going to be a lot of fun to get up there on the stage with her."
Asked how she feels this accomplishment stacks up in her seemingly continuous career rise, she joked, "I'm feeling like what can I do next year? Unless we do the awards from outer space, this is pretty much the top of the top. Hosting the awards is the biggest honor anybody can receive in this industry, so it's incredibly amazing to be chosen. I never thought I'd be able to get that far."
Tickets for the 2016 AVN Awards are now on sale. Click here to purchase.
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