ANIKKA Albrite’s husband Mick Blue walks in after a long day at work, only to be met by Anikka and her mother cooking fresh apple strudel.

He lovingly gives his wife a kiss and hands her a G-string with a little giggle. “I got you a souvenir from work today,” he says in his thick Austrian accent.

If it seems an unusual gift for this average domestic scene, that’s because you don’t know what Anikka and Mick do for work.

This happily married pair are award-winning and highly in demand adult performers, the “Brangelina” of the porn world. They became the first married couple to simultaneously win male and female performer of the year at the Adult Video News (AVN) Awards in 2015, with Mick taking out the best male award again this year.

Despite their success, Anikka and Mick still face constant criticism for doing what they love. “The biggest negative is the stigmatism in society when people find out,” Mick explains. “The stigmatism for girls is bigger than for guys. If a girl does it, she is a whore.”

“People on Instagram are the worst,” Anikka continues. “They make comments as though because of what I do I don’t deserve to be loved or have a happy healthy relationship.”

It’s not just women who get a bad wrap for being involved in porn, though. The couple say the entire industry is tainted with the stereotype that performers are heavily reliant on drugs.

“That’s a problem with the media,” Mick says. “They put it in movies and they give us a bad wrap. Yes when you look at movies like Boogie Nights, it was a different era. And yes back then it was like that. Porn was more underground. But today in the industry you are an athlete and you are rated on your last scene. There are some people who party and take drugs, but it’s not more than other industry.”

For these two highly sexual beings porn is just a job, and an enjoyable one at that.

“There was this part of me that was very hypersexual, and before I got into the industry I didn’t have an outlet,” says Anikka. “Then I got into this industry and I have this life, but when I come home all I want to do is be with Mick.”

They may be enjoying it now, but working in porn isn’t always easy and for most performers it’s not a long term career. So how long will they stay in the industry? “We are both used to it and it’s basically our lives for now and we encourage each other to excel in it and enjoy it. We will stay as long as it makes us happy” says Annika.

But Mick explains it might not always be a choice. “It’s not about how long we want to deal with it but how long our bodies want to do it because it’s a very physical job.”

One reason Anikka will take a break for is motherhood. “When I have a baby I want to be able to give time to the baby but eventually I will came back to the industry,” she maintains.

“Just because you have a child does not mean you have to put your sexuality on hold. Yes you need to be safe and remain safe but there is a time and place for everything and you can fit a child into your life. You don’t take your kid to work with you.”

Weeks earlier I was running around the AVN awards (the Oscars of the porn world) with Anikka and Mick, where Anikka was the star of the show, co-hosting the night. Watching Mick and Anika walk the red carpet it was easy to imagine they were at any mainstream awards show.

Even Anikka’s mother was there in toe, proudly supporting her daughter and her son-in-law on their night of nights. The look on her face was of a mother who was proud of her daughter for doing what she loves. The only thing is, what she loves is having sex on screen. It’s not always easy to get your head around.

Spending time with Mick and Anikka, the biggest question playing on my mind was around infidelity and jealousy. During the awards show I heard another star on stage (who won for best anal scene) thank Anikka for allowing her to have sex with her husband to receive the award.

But surprisingly, Anikka doesn’t have a problem watching her husband on set. “There is this sense of security and even though he might be having sex with someone else, I know our connection won’t be broken” she explains.

“I think that the question is the definition of cheating,” explains Mick. “Cheating doesn’t necessarily need to be sex with someone. Cheating is more if you do something that doesn’t have the consent of the person you are with. If you went for a lap dance but didn’t tell your partner is that cheating? If you went to the movies and didn’t tell your partner you were going with another man or woman is that cheating?”

But what happens if they feel a real connection with another performer on set? “Feelings with a person come if you let the feelings come. You learn how to control that,” says Mick.

Anikka elaborates, “You learn how to put up walls so you protect yourself. There are times when I have an amazing scene but I will tell him about it. I’ll say something and he might not like to hear it but I will say it and it’s important for him to hear.”

But what about their sex life together? Surprisingly, there are no sex swings or dungeons at their house. Mick describes how different sex on set is to having sex at home. “If you have sex at home you can go at your own pace at your own times, it can be more intimate thing. If a camera would film this sex, the director would say it’s romantic and there is a connection but they would also say, ‘where is the penetration?’”

There are negatives to this job and there is a downside to the industry. But it was refreshing to meet a couple who have not only have succeeded in their professional and personal lives but are busting myths about what it means to be porn stars, just by being themselves and not letting a world define them by what (or who) they do.

When I entered their world, I wasn’t sure what I would find. But it was more normal, loving and supportive than most would think. If only they were allowed to show more of that in the work that they do.

Dr Nikki Goldstein is a sexologist and the author of the book #singlebutdating.