The estranged father of a research scientist who outed herself as former call girl and blogger Belle de Jour revealed today he had used more than 150 prostitutes himself and had even introduced his daughter to some of them.

Dr Brooke Magnanti (34) decided to reveal her secret in a Sunday newspaper because she feared an ex-boyfriend might disclose Belle's true identity.

Speculation about who the author might be increased when her memoirs were turned into the TV series Secret Diary of a Call Girl, starring Billie Piper.

She is currently part of a team researching the potential effects on babies of their mothers' exposure to toxic chemicals and said her colleagues, all female, had been "amazingly kind and supportive".

Human

Now her father, Paul Magnanti, who lives in the United States, said that allowing his daughter to meet some of the sex workers when she was in her 20s had shown her the "human" face of prostitution.

Mr Magnanti, who has no contact with his daughter and is divorced from her mother, said: "I have been with over 150 prostitutes. Of those, four or five were deep emotional relationships, and Brooke met those women. She saw that prostitutes were human.

"Brooke did not approve of me seeing the prostitutes, not because they were selling their bodies for sex but because of their drug use. We had a very big falling out. Brooke said some harsh things that she hoped would help me -- but which had the opposite effect."

The former plumber said he was proud of his daughter.

"Brooke is a very independent woman, and I support whatever she has done," he said.

He added: "I am glad that she is no longer a prostitute. In my experience prostitution is wrong and corrupts people. I know that from my own experience. It only leads to heartbreak, but I will not condemn her for doing what she had to do to pay for her education."

Dr Magnanti said her mother had been "fully supportive" when she broke the news of her secret identity to her at the weekend. She said: "My mother is being fully supportive and says she's 'not one to judge'. I, for one, am happy and relieved."

Dr Magnanti was completing a PhD at Sheffield University when she became a call girl.

She moved to London to find work while completing her thesis and preparing for her viva voce, the oral examination on her research, but spent her savings quicker than expected.

Realising she had no objection to having sex for money, she contacted an agency and worked as a prostitute from 2003 to late 2004, but she kept her double life a secret even when she started the blog describing her experiences and the books which followed.

hnews@herald.ie

- Aleisha Scott