Have you ever wondered what makes escorts tick? What do they think about as they're getting ready to meet their dates? How did they get into the escorting business in the first place? What are their favourite sexual games? Do they tell the truth when it comes to details such as age? What do they tell their friends and family about their profession? Do most admit the truth or do they tell them that they work somewhere else?

Well, here's your opportunity to find out as we strip away some of the fantasy surrounding being an escort and replace it with the reality of being an escort in London today. It's time to see for yourself whether it matches up with the portrayal of life as an escort in Belle de Jour's Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Before we go any further, let's just clarify what we mean by an escort. While some women are involved in the kind of prostitution where they sell sexual services to men from a street corner or some other outside location, others choose to work from a brothel, offering incalls where the clients visit the place where she works. And then there are escorts. Mainly available for incalls, where the clients come to the escort's apartment, they will either work with an escort agency or as an independent escort. The vast majority of escorts are also happy to visit clients either at their hotels or in public places, or accompany them to dinner or even act as travel companions. Many London escorts choose to work for escort agencies as they advertise and promote their escorts, organise meetings, and ensure their escorts' safety, for a fee of course, but many escorts feel more comfortable and secure with the backup of an agency.

Is there an 'average' escort?

So let's get down to basics. No doubt that whenever you check out a profile, after you've lusted over the photos, you then check out her personal statistics. While most men would describe the average escort as being a size 10 blonde with 34D breasts, the reality is slightly different. The average dress size is more like a 12, with the average breast size being advertised as a 34D and the average height 5 feet 6 inches and, contrary to popular belief, the majority of escorts are brunettes of some kind rather than blondes. Funnily enough, the 34D bra size appears to be the ideal size for both escorts and their clients, although in reality some escorts had 'upped' their cup size in their descriptions to attract the attention of men who liked to meet with busty escorts.

Do escorts use their real names?

Take a look at our gallery of London escorts and you can see the sheer number of girls advertised, not one of which shares the same name (for obvious reasons). This in itself should give you a clue that the vast majority of escorts don't use their real name during working hours, but adopt an 'escort name'. So as much as you'd love to believe that the girls were given such names as Angel or Cleopatra at birth, it's unlikely to be their real name.

How about ages? Are these for real?

The vast majority of escort girls don't give their real ages when they put together an escort profile, with most admitting to shaving off up to 3 years off their actual age. Also bear in mind that if an escort's profile is not regularly updated, it could show an incorrect age. Some escorts prefer not to add an age at all, particularly if they are more mature escorts. However, you will find escorts in their late teens, twenties, thirties, forties and older. After all, a young teenage escort is not everyone's fantasy, some men prefer to spend time with older and more mature escorts.

How many clients does an escort see each day?

If you look through escorts' profiles, you'll see that some are only available between certain hours or don't work on specific days. However, on average, on the days that escorts are at work they see a couple of clients per day. So far from the vision of escorts lining up clients back to back, most London escorts are far less active than some punters imagine. On average, an escort will make about £50,000 per year, although others can make much more than that if they invest more of their time to see clients.

Why do women become escorts?

Of course there are many reasons why women choose to become escorts in London; however, thankfully, most women choose to enter the profession by their own volition rather than being forced into it by someone else. Contrary to the opinion of some men, escorts don't enter the profession because they simply love sex and see escorting as a fun way to have as much sex as possible. Yes, sorry to disappoint you guys, but that really is the stuff of fantasies.

Many of the girls have considered their options for a considerable time before deciding to respond to agency adverts, while others have 'fallen' into the profession after finding themselves in a situation where they accepted money for a night of sex, and then decided that is was something they could do on a regular basis. On the other side of the coin, there are women who have resorted to escorting for purely financial reasons, whether that's to support a child, or to fund themselves through a university education, or simply to keep a roof over their heads. Some escorts have even mentioned 'Secret Diary of a Call Girl', as being the inspiration for their career choice, especially as Belle (portrayed by Billie Piper) seemed to be in total control of her own destiny. However, other escorts see Piper's version of life as an escort girl in London as more based in fantasy than reality.

Is there a 'type' of client?

If you're a client reading this, we suspect that you're a white male in your late thirties o forties, as this is the demographic who are most likely to use the services of escorts. However, in terms of 'type', there isn't a particular type and it's likely that some punters are the kind of people that you'd least expect to visit escorts. In truth, they come from all backgrounds and can be any age from 18 to 78 and older. In short, punters can come in all shapes, sizes, and ages and from all walks of life.

When it comes to the clients' attitude toward sex, most of them are nervous, especially during their first meeting, but respectful and eager. Most escorts also have a professional respect for their clients; indeed, this is imperative if they want to achieve success in the escorting world.

Do escorts ever date clients?

While you've maybe had a fantasy or two of dating a hot escort without actually having to part with money to do so, generally speaking, London escorts prefer to keep business and pleasure strictly separate, with over three quarters of escorts saying that they wouldn't consider dating one of their clients. However, the majority of escorts would consider being friends with a client.

What do escorts think of the men who pay for their company?

As we've already said, the vast majority of escorts have respect for their clients, and generally accept that men seek out sex and/or intimacy with escorts because they're not getting the sex and intimacy they need elsewhere, or that they simply prefer to have sex without all the other considerations that come with being involved in a relationship. They understand and accept the reality that men visit escorts to experience a brief period of escapism and find it an uncomplicated and detached way to enjoy sex without going to the extent of having an affair, which can help to lessen the client's feelings of guilt or betrayal.

Are escorts up front with their friends and family about what they do?

In general, unless the escort has extremely open-minded friends and family, they keep their profession under wraps. And most escorts have a set time in mind for how long they plan to continue escorting; they don't see it as a long-term profession.

What about the sex itself?

Perhaps the question on every client's lips is whether the escorts actually enjoy the sex that they have with clients. The more enthusiastic an escort appears, the better ratings she's likely to get, which in turn will lead to more bookings. In reality, not many men 'get off' by having sex with an unresponsive female, so being with an escort who demonstrates a positive attitude and genuine desire to have sex with them is the ultimate turn on. Of course, this is completely understandable, especially as one of our most popular escort services is the GFE (girlfriend experience), which naturally incorporates the intimacy, affection and sexual closeness that you'd expect from a girlfriend, rather than the detachment of a typical hooker.

So what kind of sex do the escorts prefer?

Just as with any female it can vary, but in general, most escorts prefer vaginal sex and fellatio without a condom, which just happens to coincide with the most requested sexual acts from clients. Least favourite is anal sex, with escorts saying that it's mainly the hygiene elements that put them off. However, if you do see some services listed as 'at their discretion' it's more likely to be down to whether they feel in the mood for that particular act at that particular time.

As to being genuinely turned on, it really very much depends on the escort, their mood, the situation and a whole host of factors, which is the same as any standard sexual relationship. It's something that can't be generated each and every time they meet with a client. However, that's the difference between a good escort and a bad one, that even if they're not genuinely turned on or can't reach an orgasm, they'll do their best to make their client feel desired and desirable.

What about unusual sexual requests?

While The Secret Diary of a Call Girl may have shown Belle de Jour being paid to indulge her clients with a variety of sexual fetishes, the reality can be far more surprising. Ranging from 'licking a client's nipples for an hour' to 'putting live frogs in her pants and squashing them', it seems that some people's imagination is even more bizarre than that of a scriptwriter. While some escorts do advertise fetish services on their profiles, others will agree to carry out more unusual requests from trusted clients, although it's always worth remembering that all escorts are entitled to stop any sexual service or activity if they feel unhappy with it.

What do escorts feel are the main benefits of escorting in London?

Without a doubt, the main reason that escorts become escorts is for the money. Others like the idea of being their own boss and being able to choose for themselves the hours they work, or whether they work at all on a particular day. Sorry to disappoint you guys, but the sex actually came in as the least positive benefit of working as an escort. To be honest, most of this won't come as a shock to anybody who has to work for a living, after all, would we do what we do if we didn't get any financial recompense? Very few escorts would list escorting as their dream profession, they usually had dreams of joining more mundane professions.

As you can see, the fantasy of being an escort doesn't really match that of the reality, but generally speaking, escorts in London are happy with the profession they have chosen - for now.