How Maitland Ward's Husband First Suggested She Have Sex with Other Men for Porn Career (Exclusive)

His suggestion was the source of a surprisingly emotional and frank conversation between the two, which Ward details in her new memoir, "Rated X: How Porn Liberated Me from Hollywood," out today. Realizing her fantasies sometimes fell outside of what he could provide, sexually, he said she should try them out "with other men," adding that he felt she'd "never be happy unless you do all of the things that you want to do."

She was also quick to add that her husband is not a "cuck," not that she sees anything wrong with that particular kink either.

Speaking with TooFab, Ward said "people are always shocked" to learn that she's married while also having a career in porn. She and husband Terry Baxter tied the knot back in 2006, long before she had even dipped her toes into the adult entertainment industry. Now, she says his support is vital to her current career.

"I think I couldn't do this if I wasn't married, honestly. Because I feel like I have a very good support system at home," she explained, saying it's important for her to be "in a relationship where I felt secure and I can explore and do things that might scare me otherwise."

"He definitely did recognize that in me, that I needed to have sex with men," she said, explaining that the suggestion came after she first started posting some solo, semi-NSFW content to sites like Patreon and Snapchat Premium, before adding women into the mix.

"I could do some cute things with girls and that was not a big deal for my husband, I had done stuff with girls and it was hot. But the boy stuff, I had not crossed that bridge," she continued. "He saw my erotic stories and things I had been fantasizing about, things he wouldn't be able to do with me, like dungeon situations, group situations or what a professional would do, but he saw that I was really good at performing and I loved it and I really wanted to do more and see how far it could take me."

Ward said she was "shocked" when he said she should explore her fantasies with other men, saying it was something she "would have never brought up" on her own, "even though I wanted to."

When it came time for her to film her first videos with a pair of male porn stars for her own content pages, it was Terry who held onto the camera and filmed the whole experience. This, she says, made it even easier.

"It was kind of like we were exploring it together. It wasn't cheating, he was right there and he was part of the moment and these guys were so nice and so professional," she said. "They didn't go overboard or cross any boundaries. I think that's what a lot of people don't know about porn, the boundaries, people are very respectful of that. It's all discussed beforehand. I think the guys thought it was fun I was this mainstream girl that was doing this and my husband was there."

"It was a lot of fun in the beginning and if I didn't have such good experiences there, I wouldn't have gone on to professional," she continued, saying now that she works on professional shoots for legitimate porn studios, he no longer works the camera or comes to set. "But it was cool he was able to be a part of that," she added.

After pivoting from mainstream work to the porn industry, Ward's next project finds her marrying the two for a sitcom called "The Big Time." The series was pitched to her as a "light-hearted and very pro-sex" series about porn and they needed someone who could offer up a little more "authenticity" about the industry.

"Usually you get series about porn and it's about the dark twisted world of porn," said Ward, who added that, for the most part, working on a porn set is actually kind of "funny."

"But they didn't have the authenticity because nobody had been in a porn scene, so they asked me. That's how I came on as a producer and I was able to help retool the script to be more authentic to what the industry is," she continued. "They tried, they did a good job, but there were some things in it that were more stereotypical I guess. It was amazing to step back into a sitcom set in my shoes now and a porn scene. It was so surreal."

She also has an upcoming porn that was filmed very much like a sitcom -- saying it felt very "weird" to once again "say likes like Rachel McGuire," her character on "Boy Meets World."

"I felt like I did The Big Time and I did this that's coming out and I've really come full circle," she exclaimed. "I can't believe I'm acting like Rachel McGuire but also doing porn, all at once."

Ward added that she also hopes to sell the rights to her book and would love to get "Stranger Things" star Sadie Sink on board to play her in her younger years.

"Rated X: How Porn Liberated Me from Hollywood" is in bookstores now.