I left my lovely husband & 2 kids to become an escort at 40

IN her 30s, Amanda Goff appeared to have it all – a successful career, a caring husband and two beautiful children. 

However, after “boredom set in”, the mum-of-two decided to separate from her husband – and, at 39, became a “high-class escort”.

Going by the moniker of Samantha X, Amanda spent the next decade jet-setting around the world being paid handsomely for her company.

After being hailed as Australia’s most famous escort, she even set up her own escort agency, Samantha X Angels, for women over 40.

Admitting she was “addicted to male attention”, she revealed she charged clients around £650 for an hour of her time – with an overnight rate available upon request. 

Writing in the Mail, the former journalist said: “As I saw it, I was in my 40s and if a man wanted to pay me five grand for dinner (and ­dessert…) and to be perfectly nice company, then why the hell not?”

However, behind the scenes, she admitted the picture was far from rosy and said she was an “absolute mess”, with loved ones questioning her mental health.

It wasn’t until she was diagnosed with bipolar that she understood the “real reason” behind her “drama” and “frenetic love life.”

Amanda, now 51, shared: “Unlike other forms of neurodivergence such as ADHD, bipolar is highly stigmatised, even today. We are seen as crazy and dangerous.

“And the biggest taboo about bipolar? The mania – and how it can lead to dangerous personality changes, risk-taking and sexual impulsivity.”

Typically bipolar affects over one million people in the UK, and while it cannot be cured, there are treatments that can help manage it.

Amanda said she “cried with relief” when she was given her diagnosis, having assumed she was just “crazy and unstable.”

Despite growing up in a stable home in south-west London and being a blueprint for “what a relationship should look like” with her parents, Amanda said she could never “make a relationship work” over the years.

She blames how men have treated her from an early age as part of the problem.

As a young teen, she claimed she attracted unwanted attention, and alleged she was raped when she was just 16 by a boy she considered to be a friend.

Amanda said the “underlying shame” manifested into trauma over time.

She confessed that she later started to believe she had a magical power over men, and while the attention initially made her feel stronger, she admitted she “confused sex for love”.

As I saw it, I was in my 40s and if a man wanted to pay me five grand for dinner (and ­dessert…) and to be perfectly nice company, then why the hell not?

Amanda Goff

She also said that, before she was diagnosed with bipolar, she tried to self-medicate with alcohol and drugs – and “one glass of wine was never enough”.

Often she’d finish two bottles, followed by shots, and then wake up next to a stranger.

Ditching escorting

After years in the adult industry, Samantha X finally hung up her heels in 2023, as she “just wanted to be Amanda”.

She also gave up drinking and is now medicated and stable with her bipolar.

While she admitted that she “misses the connection” and “definitely the money” of her former escort work, she is now back to being a journalist, and also works as a part-time pilates teacher. 

Admitting the lifestyle is worlds apart from her five-star hotels and first-class flights, she insists she’s the happiest she’s been.

Amanda has had another shot at love and has been dating a new man for six months.

She concluded: “I am happy, finally. I wasn’t ‘bad at love’ – I was unwell. And now I’m better, I am finally learning what healthy love means, at 51. Better late than never.”