Porter attempted to slim down to a size zero by using drastic dieting regimes for the BBC documentary Super Slim Me. Porter presented the product-testing section of How to Look Good Naked on Channel 4.[5]
Later that year, she made a four-part series called Extreme Wife for Channel 4. In the first programme, Dawn Porter: Free Lover (30 September 2008), Porter travelled to San Diego, California, to investigate polyamory, then she travelled to former Germany to visit ZEGG in Belzig, a German free love commune. The programme highlighted the world of free love, such as ritual sensuous oil sessions with naked people covered in warm olive oil, and included discussions with the people who lived in the commune. It premiered with 1.75m viewers (10.7% share).[10]
In the second programme, Dawn Porter: Mail Order Bride (7 October 2008), Porter travelled to Odesa, Ukraine, with a group of American men in their search for a partner. The third programme, Dawn Porter: Geisha Girl (14 October 2008), saw Porter travel to Kyoto, Japan, and spend a week in a geisha house. In the fourth and final programme, Dawn Porter: Polygamist's Wife (21 October 2008), Porter investigated women who are prepared to share their husbands with other women. This included a stay in Centennial Park, Arizona.[11]
In May 2009, it was announced that Porter would present a documentary, The Booby Trap, exploring breast cancer, for Sky1.[13] The show aired on 6–7 July 2009, under the title My Breasts Could Kill Me.[14] It premiered with 181,000 viewers (0.9% share).[15]
Porter has her own television production company Hot Patootie TV.[16][17]
In 2012, Porter organised an Oxfam "get together" alongside friend Gemma Cairney, and raised money for Oxfam by selling clothing previously owned by celebrities.[19]
O'Porter writes for many publications, on feminism and aspects of women's lifestyle.
In 2006, she published Diaries of an Internet Lover.[22] In May 2013, she released her first novel, Paper Aeroplanes, the fictional tale of an intense female friendship loosely inspired by her own childhood in Guernsey.[23]
Her publication, The Cows, was released in 2016 and has since been featured on the Sunday Times Best Sellers list.[24]
In October 2019, HarperCollins published her novel, So Lucky.[25]
In October 2022, HarperCollins published another of her novels, Cat Lady.
Charity work
O'Porter was one of the founding members of the charity Help Refugees (now called Choose Love).[26]