A dad-of-one, who turned his back on a career in law to become a male escort, shocked The Morning Show host Kylie Gillies when he made an unexpected revelation live on air.
Mitch Larsson spoke to Kylie and co-host Matt Doran on Friday to discuss his unconventional career change, and how it came about thanks to a decision made “overnight”.
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“Between law and becoming an escort, I was a stay-at-home dad for a while,” Mitch told the hosts.
“It was pretty much a decision made overnight. It was a very random choice.
“Someone once mentioned I was fairly charismatic and that got me thinking over a few days, and overnight I made the decision, took some photos and put myself on a directory and the calls started coming in.”
Mitch was married at the time and he revealed how his wife was “happy” with his decision.
“Maybe not overly enthusiastic but she was very supportive of me,” he said.
“I asked in the morning after I came up with the idea and I said, ‘Is this a terrible idea?’ and she said ‘Is it terrible that I don’t think this is a terrible idea?’
“She was really quite supportive.”
Although Mitch and his wife are now separated, he told Kylie and Matt they were still “basically best friends”.
“We are very supportive of our son together and it’s a wonderful relationship now.”
‘Transition’
Matt told Mitch he was fascinated to hear a bit more about his ‘transition’.
“You left the courtroom behind and stepped into the bedroom. How does that play out? The phone starts ringing and then what happens?” he asked.
“It was a whirlwind,” Mitch admitted.
“The messages started coming in, I would leave my phone on til midnight in the early days and it was like being on call to see what jobs you could get and – like live TV – you walk in there and you just do it.”
“It’s just like live TV?” Matt said, turning to Kylie.
“Okay,” a wide-eyed Kylie replied, clearly shocked.
“What were some of the main reasons people would book you?” Kylie then asked.
Mitch replied: “Usually to get over some sort of big significant situation that had occurred in their lives.
“A lot of people may have been cheated on, or their partner might have died, or they’ve been in a long-term relationship and just wanted to get a bit of themselves back again and maybe possibly get some confidence to go back out into the dating world.
“Generally just to feel good in their bodies before they presented their bodies to other people.”
Spilling more on the type of clients he would see, Mitch explained the youngest was 30 “because I prefer not to see people too young”.
“And the oldest – the sky is the limit. The oldest I saw was 74 and just all sorts of demographics,” he said.
“Some people saved up a long time to see me and others had plenty of disposable cash and saw me more often.
“All sorts of people from all different walks of life.”
Mitch went on to share his experiences in a book – Time for Her.
“It is based on a true story with a client of mine who had early onset Alzheimer’s and we actually both came up with the idea at the time,” he said.
“We were quite excited about it.
“I thought it would be nice to write a sex worker memoir that was not overly salacious and had a bit of romance to it, aimed at women from a man’s point of view, because there are very few books out there from the male point of view.”
The book also details some awkward encounters, including one where Mitch was busted by a client’s mum.
“That was an interesting one. We had our initial phone call and she was very prim and proper and was very definite on the time she wanted to see me and it was all very, ‘I want to see you at 7 o’clock and that’s it’.
“I get to the house and it was almost like an assisted-living situation and I thought, ‘This is a bit strange’.
“One thing led to another, everything was going well and she was sticking to the time and (saying) ‘My housemate will be coming back soon’.
“We were sort of in the thick of things, so to speak, and there was a rattle of keys in the door and she was just like, ‘God, no, what’s happening?’
“And before we knew it, this sort of helmet-headed hairstyled baby boomer pokes their head in and (was) just like, ‘Oh hello there’.”
More than just sex
Mitch revealed to the hosts that his escort job was “very well paid”, but he had a word of warning.
“I don’t want to dissuade people from going into it but men, particularly, need to understand that it is more than just sex,” he said.
“It is very much a therapeutic service that we provide, and you do take on a lot of people’s emotions.
“You need a certain sense of emotional maturity yourself to relate to the clients.”
Mitch finished up as an escort earlier this year after suffering “a bit of burnout”.
“I met somebody as well,” he revealed.
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