Former call girl opens up about the industry
Spotlight is on prostitution in the wake of the Eliot Spitzer scandal
 | Video |
 |
Life of high-priced call girls March 12: Jody Gibson and Natalie McLennan talk about how they got into the professional world of escorting. Today show |
 | Slide show |
 | more photos |
 | Slide show |
 | Week in Pictures A crop outgrows the farmer, a cloud spins and sparks, and soldiers suffer in the sand more photos |
| Video |
 | Politics of a political marriage March 11: NBC’s Janet Shamlian reports on the string of politicians involved in sex scandals and the wives who stand by them. Today show |
What is the life of a high-priced call girl really like? What sort of man is a typical client? How much does she make? To get the answers to these and other questions, TODAY sat down with a woman who was once one of the highest-paid escorts in New York. Here's a transcript of the interview:
Natalie McLennan, a native of Montreal, was a 24-year-old aspiring actress in 2004 when she started working for NY Confidential, a top-end escort service in New York City. Billed as “New York’s No. 1 escort,” she was featured on the cover of New York magazine in 2005, and her revelations in the accompanying article led prosecutors to arrest her for prostitution and money laundering, for which she spent 26 days in Rikers Island jail (“Three more days than Paris Hilton!” she notes) before accepting a plea bargain.
She is writing a memoir with a working title of “The Price” about her experiences during the year that she worked for the agency. It is scheduled for fall release by Phoenix Books.
Q: Why did you become an escort?
A: I was struggling, a starving actress, living in Manhattan, trying to succeed. The option was presented to me. I weighed the pros and the cons. I decided to try it once to see if it was something I could handle. It was, so I continued until it wasn’t right for me anymore.
Q: Why did you get out?
A: I got out because of people I was surrounded with at the agency didn’t have my best interests at heart. Because I had so much anxiety and panic attacks because I felt something might happen. I couldn’t sleep at night. I was right because the month after I left, the agency was shut down by the police. And also, my lifestyle wasn’t as healthy as it could have been.
Q: How much did you make?
A: An escort makes as much money as she can possibly make for herself. The average escort in New York City, I would estimate makes between $600 and $1,200 an hour. It can be a great living for a certain amount of time. It’s like Wall Street; you have to go in, make your money and get out. The most money I personally ever made as an escort was either $2,000 an hour with a two-hour minimum, or $29,000 for one weekend.
Q: Was it a good weekend?
A: Oh, my gosh, it was amazing. We went to this little private island in the Florida Keys. It was amazing. It was unbelievable. It was a fairy tale.
Q: How much does the service make?
A: The booker — whoever organizes the appointments, which is either over the telephone or the Internet — makes 10 percent off the top, then it’s split 50-50 between the girl and the agency.
Q: What did you carry in your purse?
A: I used to have this recurring nightmare where I’d be walking into this gorgeous hotel like the St. Regis, and all of a sudden I would slip and fall in my four-inch Manolos, go tumbling across the carpet, and with me would go the contents of my purse, which were as follows: $100 bills, condoms, lube, and then makeup, cell phone and all the other girl things. It was that moment of mortification of my life being exposed for the world to see, because a girl’s life is in her purse.
| Rate this story | Low | High |
MORE FROM PEOPLE |
 People Section Front |
| Add People headlines to your news reader: |