Brooke Magnanti was quoted by the Sunday Times as saying she decided to reveal her secret because she was afraid an ex-boyfriend would expose her. Magnanti, 34, is a child health researcher at the University of Bristol in western England. She told the newspaper she turned to the sex trade in while finishing her Ph.
She blogged about the experience in the guise of Belle de Jour, a legal secretary who moonlights as a sex worker. Debate swirled about whether the anonymous author was real or fictional, and Belle de Jour was accused by some of glamorizing prostitution.
Magnanti said on her blog Sunday she was relieved "to be able to defend what my experience of sex work is like to all the skeptics and doubters. Magnanti said her scientific colleagues had been "amazingly kind and supportive" about the news.
The university said her past was not relevant to her current job. Her publisher, Orion, said in a statement that it was "a courageous decision for Belle de Jour to come forward with her true identity and we support her decision to do so. A screenshot of the Belle De Jour blog taken on Nov. Related Links Call girl apologizes to Eliot Spitzer's wife. How tech has changed the world's oldest profession. Don't Miss false. Sea shanty folk tunes are taking over TikTok by storm.
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