About a month ago Loverboy hung out with London porn star, escort, sex retailer, Matteo Valentine. We wanted to know what it was like working in the sex industry, from the international fame as an upcoming porn star to sleeping with guys who want you to shave their pubes off.

We typed up the interview and it’s over six pages of a Google document. We tried cutting it down but it’s all too salacious. So we’ll just deliver it in parts first. Here’s part one where Matteo tells us, “I know with some escorts when their client arrives, they spend 10-15 minutes talking and then sex may not even happen. People I tend to meet are like ‘Bend over’ as soon as I walk in the door.”

Do you consider yourself a sex worker?
I’ve never really thought about it to be honest. I am aware that every aspect of my life is covered by sex. Working at The Vault, Expectations…it’s all about porn, sex, escorting. I’m not really that complex to be honest. It probably means I’m a bit dense. Fundamentally I guess, yeah, I am a sex worker but I cover so many different areas of it, preparing people for it in the shop, witnessing it at the club and then participating in it as a paid sort of thing. I am SEX. From the beginning through to the sticky ending.

What’s The Vault?
It’s a cruise club behind Warren St. I think I must be the only one there who can count as I’m never allowed to leave the bar. Before I always got pushed into cubicles and glory holes. I’d end up with snail trails all over me. Customers tend to get a little bit grabby even though I’m a miserable sod.

So which part of your career came first?
The Vault, then porn, escorting and Expectations. I have a very high figure of ‘How many men have you slept with?’ When I was younger, I slipped into a routine of going through with things even though it wasn’t necessarily what I wanted, just because it was expected by that point. I learned to switch off in my head. My body still responded. Don’t think I didn’t have a good time but they always had a better time than I did. I’ve always known I could go through certain things with my body responding one way and my head responding another, or not responding!
Oh, actually modelling was my first thing. One guy randomly approached me on Facebook and said ‘Do you want to be photographed in your pants?’ I said, ‘No’ and then I kind of did. My confidence kind of grew from there really. I did a few more shoots and they gradually went from sneaky cock glances to ‘Would you mind having an erection?’ I’m like ‘Yeah that’s fine.’ Then it got to the stage where I was doing posed sex positions and photographers were trying to get away with a hell of a lot but if you did the same for a porn company they would pay you. So I began to wonder if I could get paid for this. Before you knew it I was masturbating in front of the camera and it was downhill from there. Ha.

Do you ever worry about customers’ mental state once you leave them? Whether they need that human connection and are then left alone afterwards?
It’s always something that has confused me – why people pay for sex, especially nowadays when there’s Scruff, Grindr, blah blah blah, it’s so easy. But then with Scruff and Grindr you do have to go through the 20 messages and if they’re available on that day. Whereas with escorting you can generally get them when you want, get someone you like, do what you want, there’s no connection, so at the end of the two hours that it’s unless they want a repeat. I’ve also taken bookings where someone is in a long term relationship but sex doesn’t happen with their partner but the grindr/scruff thing is too dangerous. Escorting is easier because it is anonymous. But the customers you get are not like porn stars, they are just average looking people, one guy was just a 50 year old office worker and the first thing he said to me was ‘I guess you didn’t expect me to be fat and middle aged.’ I was like ‘Well you’re not fat and I guess you’re middle aged,’ but it was surprisingly good sex. But since then, he’s text me to say ‘I’m down the road in Euston, do you want to meet up for a coffee?’ We never had a connection of ‘Oh well I’ll meet you afterwards but in my own time.’

Would you go?
I happen to have been busy so I find myself saying, ‘Not right now’ but in my mind I’m thinking ‘Did we have that kind of connection that I wasn’t aware of and you were?’

Do you ever get taken out to dinner and shows?
I know with some escorts when their client arrives, they spend 10-15 minutes talking and then sex may not even happen. It might just involve hugging and some light wanking. People I tend to meet, as soon as I walk in the door they are like, ‘Bend over…’ I’m never sure what my pictures generate image wise. Some people say to me, ‘Oh you look really mean.’ It’s hard to know what people want in a rent boy. They want beard. They may want muscle to go with a beard. They may not want tattoos.

What made you want to get into escorting in the first place?
Good question. The reason for life is to experience everything. I was just curious to know if i could do it. The porn feels a bit less natural but in the client/escort situation it becomes very personal and if they stick around after for hugging or whatever, bits of your personality come out. Like ‘Where are you from?’ I end up talking about how my sister is coming down to London. Then they leave and I kind of think ‘Oh my God, why did I say all of that?’

Maybe that’s ok with a regular?
Yeah, but I’m never really trying to get a regular. It’s more about the experience. Why did I start? Essentially the extra money but more about different experiences with different people. There are a lot of gay guys that say they’ll only have sex with someone if they have a six pack and pecs but I’ve always been like ‘Well you might not be initially attracted to someone but the more time you spend with them, the more their personality changes how you see them.’ I’ve often found that people with amazing bodies are bad at sex because it becomes all about them and they just lie there. It’s an awful thing to say but my ex used to say ‘Ugly people tend to try more.’

Is there anything you do to get in the mood before you go in?
Hardcore drugs. Haha….no. I don’t prepare much because the more I think about it, the more I panic. Some people will send you their picture first which isn’t always a good thing because then you’re like ‘Oh my God, that’s not the kind of person I like.’ But then you have to think that you’re being paid for your input of sex, not whether you like them or not. Sometimes it’s quite difficult, but you’re face down most of the time so that’s fine. Haha…

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