If you thought that it was only dudes who enlisted the intimate services of a third party outside of their marriage, then you’d be wrong! There are now more and more love-starved women who are paying complete strangers to cuddle them, and there is absolutely no sexual activity involved. Where’s the fun in that?!
41-year-old Saskia Fredericks, has been using the cuddle service for just over a year because she only gets to see her husband for a few days a month. Saskia lives and works in New York whilst her husband works The National Guard in Connecticut, leaving Saskia feeling pretty lonely.
She says she finds the lack of human contact tough to deal with and apparently her husband is fully onboard with her fortnightly cuddle sesh. Saskia said:
Apparently the cuddling gig is growing business in New York and cuddlist.com employs around 40 professional cuddlers to service 200 clients a week. Here’s what cuddlist.com CEO, Adam Lipin, has to say about his business:
Here’s what professional cuddler Ian Carmen had to say about his job:
Yeah yeah, alright Ian. I bet he’s totally charging a few extra quid to get his fingers stinky. In all seriousness though, it’s a pretty cool service for people who would otherwise be feeling really lonely. I personally wouldn’t appreciate my partner having intimate cuddles with a random but if it works for them then who am I to judge.
41-year-old Saskia Fredericks, has been using the cuddle service for just over a year because she only gets to see her husband for a few days a month. Saskia lives and works in New York whilst her husband works The National Guard in Connecticut, leaving Saskia feeling pretty lonely.
She says she finds the lack of human contact tough to deal with and apparently her husband is fully onboard with her fortnightly cuddle sesh. Saskia said:
My husband is a lieutenant in the police department so he is on patrol 24/7 and we don't live together full time because I am here in NYC. I am 99 per cent sure that he doesn't get jealous of the cuddling because I check in with him and talk with him about it. Maybe if we saw more of each other we could go to cuddle groups together – I don't think it's something he would talk to his cop buddies about but he is an open minded guy.
He's more protective than jealous so as long as I am safe he is happy.
I really look forward to it because I love affection and I love how it makes my body feel – I get excited because it's my treat. If I didn't have these cuddle sessions I would go through my life with no touch and that would be really lonely.
It's great because I don't have to battle in the bar scene for attention and I don't have to feel awkwardness with a girlfriend – it's all about me because I pay for it.
Apparently the cuddling gig is growing business in New York and cuddlist.com employs around 40 professional cuddlers to service 200 clients a week. Here’s what cuddlist.com CEO, Adam Lipin, has to say about his business:
The sessions last for around two hours and cost $80 per hour. We are expanding our cuddlers by around three a week so this is definitely a viable business model. We have all kinds of clients; men, women, old people, young people - they come for the personal touch and human interaction. That's what I value about it.
Here’s what professional cuddler Ian Carmen had to say about his job:
When you hold someone or touch someone there can be something sexual about it. But there are ways of dealing with it and it requires a maturity and a sense of shared values – we know why we are here and it's not because of that. Sometimes when I'm with someone there's a sexual moment but you learn to deal with and acknowledge it but you don't encourage it and it eventually passes.
Yeah yeah, alright Ian. I bet he’s totally charging a few extra quid to get his fingers stinky. In all seriousness though, it’s a pretty cool service for people who would otherwise be feeling really lonely. I personally wouldn’t appreciate my partner having intimate cuddles with a random but if it works for them then who am I to judge.