Brooke Magnanti

Six years ago, as a destitute PhD student writing her doctoral thesis in London, Brooke Magnanti decided to become a call girl. Under the pen name Belle de Jour, she wrote about her experiences on her blog, which instantly became a huge hit. Her journal was published as a book and became a bestseller, and then was made into a TV series, "The Secret Diary of a Call Girl." She maintained anonymity despite persistent pursuit of media, but finally outed herself last Sunday.

Dr. Magnanti is now a 34-year-old a specialist in developmental neurotoxicology and cancer epidemiology at St Michael's Hospital in Bristol employed by the University of Bristol in the U.K. In an interview with the Sunday Times, Magnanti said she moved from Scotland to London when she nearly finished writing up her dissertation because there were more jobs there. But without a PhD, it was almost impossible to find a work in her specialized field.

"I started to think: what can I do that I can start doing straightaway, that doesn't require a great deal of training or investment to get started, that's cash in hand and that leaves me spare time to do my work in?" she told the paper. She contacted an escort agency in London. "I did have another job at one point, as a computer programmer, but I kept up with my other work because it was so much more enjoyable." She continued to work as a call girl for 14 months, earning 200 pounds per hour two to three times a week. How many men did she meet in that 14-month period? "I can't honestly remember. Somewhere between dozens and hundreds."

After Magnanti revealed her identity, her employer, the University of Bristol, said, "This aspect of her past bears no relevance to her current role at the university."