Gay escort on working with George Michael, OnlyFans and his advice to young sex workers
Paul Stag and George Michael. (Credit: Getty Images)
Paul Stag never planned to become an escort, but that all changed in an instant one night when he was working as a security guard at a gay nightclub.
“I was manning the door myself just for a very short while, and a guy basically offered me £300 to suck me off,” he explains. “When [the other security guard] came back, I went around the side, did it, and basically thought: ‘Sh*t, that’s easy money’.”
Two decades on, Paul is one of the UK’s best-known gay escorts. He’s worked with high-profile clients such as George Michael (more on that later), and dabbled in porn and journalism.
Now, he wants to pass on some of his wisdom to the next generation of sex workers and escorts. Escorting, he says, is one of the easiest industries to get into – but that doesn’t mean the day-to-day is always easy.
That’s why he’s written a book, The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Successful Escort, to help others avoid some of the traps he fell into in those early years.
“You get huge highs, you get huge lows,” Paul tells PinkNews. “The worst thing about escorting is probably the huge [number] of time-wasters and things which lead to nothing: blokes who literally want you to go halfway across London, then the address is fake. Stuff like that. You get better at spotting that over time but you never get completely used to it.
“The upside: you get to have a fantastic time. It is easy money if your phone is going and you’re getting it right. It’s a couple of hundred pounds for one hour… It’s a great way to make money. That’s why a lot of people do it, to get through college or help get on to the housing ladder.”
And there’s a demand for escorts of all ages, Paul says. “Nowadays there’s no real age factor. It’s not a question of only blokes under 28 can escort, now some of the biggest and best escorts are in their fifties, so it is for everybody.”
If you’re good at what you do, you’ll build up a list of clients who trust you and keep coming back for more. Some of Paul’s most treasured memories have been with repeat clients, the kind of people who use his services on and off for years at a time.
Having a great personality helps, he says. You’re more likely to be successful if you understand that clients aren’t just paying for sex. It’s also about the experience.
Paul Stag didn’t know he was sleeping with George Michael
One of Paul’s most treasured escorting experiences was with George Michael. He says he worked with the Wham! singer for about a decade – although, despite being a huge fan of the pop star, he didn’t even know who he was having sex with for the first three years.
“George was a fantastic guy. Haven’t got a single bad word to say about him… I was his regular escort for about 10 years solidly. In that time, he was still in relationships but as often happens, [he wanted] something extra on the side or something he couldn’t get.
“Most famously for me, on the escorting side of it, is he hired me I’d say for about three years. I’m really not sure about the [exact] number of years. We had sex many, many times, but I had no idea who he was for the first three years because he wore a balaclava. He always came to my place. Then, one day, he took the balaclava off and you get that mouth-drop moment.
“He went: ‘Oh, I thought you’d guess[ed]’. Not a clue. He put on a very strong Scottish accent and said he owned a building company, why would I presume otherwise? Well done, George!”
Over time, they became friendly, and would often have long, rambling conversations.
“We talked about music, about football. Arsenal was his team, Chelsea was my team. We talked about his various records, his friendships with all the people he knew, the people who he liked and who he didn’t in the industry. A lot more than what you’d expect from an escort, which is the carnal side of it.
“He was mad on Coronation Street. He loved a lot of Pixar films… I was invariably ‘on the clock’, so I was aware that sometimes he probably did just want company, somebody to shoot the breeze with.
“But that’s the point of escorting, you can meet people like that. You can meet people like Premier League footballers, top sports stars, Hollywood stars. As I say, there is no qualification to get into the industry.”
Working with high-profile people has taught Paul the importance of professionalism. Too many people fail as escorts in the first few weeks because they think it’s all a bit of fun.
“It’s providing a service, a professional service. It is a business, it is an industry, you are a worker, and as with any other industry, drugs, drink, all of these things, they don’t work. Journalists can’t go and get pissed and high then go into the office and think: ‘Now I’m going to write a nice essay’.
“That’s probably what a lot of the guys get wrong. With escorting, it’s quite easy to [get mixed up] by thinking it’s entertainment.”
He also cautions against people seeing sex work as an easy option. Yes, it can sometimes be easy money, but it also takes work and the strength to go out and put on a show, even when you’re not feeling it.
That’s a bit less concern these days, thanks to sites such as OnlyFans and JustForFans. The sex industry is in a state of flux, and, nowadays, those who want to sell their services can do so from the comfort of their own homes.
“These guys pick who they want to have sex with, they film it on their phones, stick it up there and try to get people to pay 10 bucks a month. If you can make money by having sex with people you are picking and you are fancying, why escort? With escorting, you don’t pick and choose. Back in the old days, you didn’t even know what the guy looked like.”
It is, Paul adds, an interesting time for the escorting world, but the way the industry is changing could open more doors to those thinking about launching their own careers.
“It’s almost like escorts are now sleeping with other escorts and they’ve got a way of making money. I don’t know how that’s going to pan out, because OnlyFans only started seven years ago.
“We do not know how it’s going to develop, so there might be a shortage of escorts going forward. That’s a chance. But that’s a great opportunity for people to consider entering the industry and doing it properly.”
The Ultimate Guide to Becoming a Successful Escort is out now.
