'My girlfriend encouraged me to be an escort...so I became one.'

"I think you would make a great escort," Hudson*'s girlfriend told him out of the blue. "You would be really good at it."

With most couples, this conversation would never happen — and if it did, it's rare that the relationship would continue without jealousy and resentment.

For Hudson and his girlfriend, Marie*, however, those few words completely changed the course of his life, in positive ways he never expected.

Watch: Anna Grosman on her male escort agency. Post continues below.

About a year ago, Hudson and Marie - who had been dating non-monogamously for more than 18 months - were browsing through a magazine together when they spoke about escort services for the very first time.

"There was an ad for an escort, and she started talking about a guy she knew who was one and we looked him up," Hudson said.

"She was talking about how much of an ego he had, and then she said, 'I don't know how he gets any work. You would be really good at it because you would provide a really good service, you're empathetic and you have a lot of female friends'. She genuinely thought I would enjoy it and be doing it for the right reasons."

A qualified private pilot and tech entrepreneur by day, Hudson isn't a typical candidate for being an escort by any means — but behind closed doors, he enjoys a very non-traditional dating life, with three to five 'girlfriends' at one time and plenty of experience in swingers and sex clubs.

When Marie mentioned how his talents would transfer to escort services, he wasn't offended in the slightest. Quite the opposite, in fact.

"I sat on it for a few days and then started to look into it more," he said. "The more I researched it, the more I became drawn to it."

As for his intentions, it's not what others assume.

"I'm not sex-starved and don't need the money," Hudson added.

Hudson* says he's "not sex-starved" and "need the money". Image: Supplied.

"It was a curiosity at first, then I realised I had something to contribute. People say, 'Oh you're getting paid for sex'. And it's like, 'No, that's not it at all. It's a tiny fraction of it'. If anyone is doing it for money, there's a place for that, but it's not me. I want to be compensated for my time, but it's not my motivation."

It didn't take long for Hudson to start being paid for sex, after he posted his profile on an escort website. As a heterosexual, his boundaries are only being intimate with women.

"It was a two-hour, wham bam, purely sex experience," he said of his first-ever client. "It was a younger lady in her thirties who wanted to come back from a party and have someone there."

A few months in, however, Hudson's first foray into the sex industry quickly left him very frustrated — and not in the bedroom.

"I got tired of how many people were calling just to speak to a male escort," he said.

"I wanted to see ladies who want to feel desired."

"I also had a lot of inquiries from gay men who wanted a straight male escort. I had a lot of time wasters, and couples who wanted to take the first step but not go any further, then other people would book and they would cancel a lot. I felt like I was an information service and it wasn't the clientele I was wanting.

"I wanted to see ladies who want to feel desired, recognised, and appreciated, who aren't looking to step into the online dating world but are looking to have a sexual experience. I also wanted something more higher-end and wholesome, with conversation, dinners and that type of thing with someone who wanted a true date or companion for the night."

That desire led him to seek out an upmarket escort agency, Her Confidant.

"I sent an application and thought I would have a 50 per cent chance because of the volume of people who register on the website," he said.

After completing a questionnaire, Hudson's honest and thoughtful answers impressed the agency's owner and he underwent a three-month induction process that involved exchanging photographs, video calls, undergoing police and STI checks, and a simulated booking trial (with a female escort).

Hudson's services aren't limited to his hometown. Image: Supplied.

Seven months ago, Hudson removed his other profile and officially joined the Her Confidant team, which has 16 male and two female companions.

Contrary to popular belief, Hudson's escort work is not his full-time job, but something he does outside his work in tech. He has three to four bookings per month with women of varying ages (the oldest being 85 who he will see soon), and says 'most' are intimate, which involve sex - but surprisingly, not all are.

Hudson receives 50 per cent of Her Confidant's fee, which is $400 per hour for social bookings, while intimacy is $750 per hour, with a minimum two-hour booking.

He also does overnights from 7pm to 10am, which costs the client $3,500. Bookings are always made in high-end hotels, which are arranged and paid for by the client.

"Most bookings are three hours of intimacy, or five-hour bookings of two hours of social and three hours of intimacy, but nearly all of them have some level of intimacy," he said.

By intimacy, Hudson explains, it means he's 'naked' for most of that period.

"It's not just sex the entire time," he clarified.

"It could be a bath or sexual massage, for example. I don't have fetishes and would call myself pretty vanilla, really. And that's what the ladies I see want as well. But I can perform in any situation and I know myself so well and what I can do. I can lead any sexual situation confidently because I've done it all."

Hudson's services aren't limited to his hometown of Sydney, either. In the coming months, he'll travel to Queensland, WA and Victoria, all at the expense of his clients.

In July, a client will be paying $7,000 for Hudson to spend two consecutive nights with her.

"I've got bookings all the way up until August," he said.

"I'm just a normal guy who is a really good listener, offering a normal experience to someone who's had an abnormal previous few years."

Most of the women he sees are one-offs.

"Occasionally there are repeat bookings, but mostly it's a singular experience for people because after they've had that experience, they're feeling so much more confident in themselves, and ready to take the next step, which isn't necessarily hiring another escort," he said.

"It's moving their life on in a different way."

Hudson truly believes his role in women's lives is far more impactful than "just sex".

"You can see the fundamental, transformational changes that these women experience," he said.

Some of these ladies haven't had sex for 20 years.

"Some of these ladies haven't had sex for 20 years, have been cheated on for decades, or have never had an orgasm in the marriage they've just left. Many have come out of a traumatic relationship, or unappreciated for a very long time. Many are anti-men and this is a reboot and new chapter in their lives.

"The appointments often end up with me being a confession box and we give a lot of emotional energy. I hear personal stories that they may not have told anyone else, and I share a part of myself too, because there needs to be a sense of authenticity. I'm not a persona who is performing. People regularly cry recalling traumatic events.

"A lot of what we do is therapy. This is important work, and a client confirmed that at the end of a five-hour session. As much as it's not condoned by society - and it should be - we change people's lives."

As someone who endured the worst kind of trauma imaginable, Hudson's empathy for others is what he believes makes him so perfect for this type of job.

"I lost my three-year-old son in 2017," he said.

"He had a serious case of tonsillitis which became septic overnight. He did not wake up. It was horrible - my worst nightmare. It was so, so bad. Losing my child led me into a trauma period for a couple of years, and I still get sad at times, but I've dealt with it and it became a catalyst for change for me in a positive way.

"My whole programming of who I am changed through that period of trauma. I can easily feel people's emotions, understand their perspectives, when they're suffering and I can cry easily now."

Hudson was in a six-year monogamous relationship with the mother of his child at the time, and prior to that, was traditionally married for nine years, and is a parent to two teenagers from that relationship.

For the past six years, he's had no interest in returning to monogamy, but is nonetheless open and honest with everyone he meets.

"When I start a new relationship, [being an escort] is always the first thing I disclose," he said.

"They actually appreciate my honesty and nine times out of ten, they are completely fine with it. My girlfriends are always asking me how I go [with his clients]. They want to know it all, but I don't share that, because that's private."

Hudson doesn't know about his future, except that he hopes to continue escorting for at least the "next few years".

"I find it's a good motivator to be healthy, keep myself fit and be mentally alert," he said.

"I'm also learning and growing with every experience, meeting people in the most extreme of personal situations. I thoroughly enjoy it, find it rewarding and can't see an end to it yet."

And yes, he's still with the girlfriend who suggested it - and will forever be grateful for her.

"I still thank my girlfriend for encouraging me," he said.

"It's amazing and so much better than anything I was expecting. I just love it."

*Names have been changed to protect identities.

Feature Image: Supplied.