People focused on celebrity interviews and scandal, glamour photography, sex stories sent in by readers, puzzle, crosswords, and a jokes page.

[4][6] Then editor David Naylor said women were 30 per cent of the magazine's audience: "They liked doing the giant crossword on the train, and the stories were fun.

In the early 1990s, People followed the lead of The Picture and introduced "Home Girls" – amateur photos sent in by female readers.

In 1992, the magazine was the subject of controversy for featuring a "woman on all fours in a dog collar" on its cover,[2][7][8] which prompted "feminist uni students to protest in the streets.

Its operators claimed that the magazine's team "entered the park without permission" and the photos had "tarnished a squeaky clean reputation".

[4] It was announced on 23 October 2019 that both People and The Picture magazines would cease production at the end of 2019 following being dropped from the shelves of major convenience stores.