A woman who was previously dubbed Australia's most famous escort has explained how her extraordinary career came about.
Amanda Goff, 51, sensationally swapped her quiet life in suburbia for sex work shortly after settling down with a 'nice, caring man' who she welcomed two children with. More than a decade ago, she decided to introduce her 'confident, exciting and adventurous' alter ego named 'Samantha X' to the world when she was 39 and freshly single.
The mother-of-two enjoyed a lot of success as an escort - so much so, that she even ended up setting up her own agency for women over 40, so that other women could get a slice of it too.
On the surface, Amanda's jet set lifestyle seemed quite spectacular, as she explained she was constantly travelling, staying in luxury hotels, sipping champagne with rich clients and 'counting endless hundred-dollar bills'.
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In a column for the Daily Mail published on Friday, she wrote: "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, she admitted that she was 'an absolute mess' behind the scenes, while confessing that it was her 'addiction to male attention' that drove her to become an escort in the first place.
The journalist later found out that her undiagnosed bipolar disorder was a large contributor to her 'frenetic love life' and the constant 'drama' that she found herself in.
As a result of the mental health condition, she was often consumed by 'feelings of grandeur, delusion, disassociation, a huge sexual appetite and urge to conquer'.
According to Amanda, the diagnosis helped explain a lot about her past behaviour and why she decided to become an escort, as she realised she was chasing 'validation' from men.
"The only time I felt loved, seen, adored, desired - something I had never really felt before - was when men were giving me attention," she explained. "Looking back, I confused sex for love, desire for care.
"It’s a very common and dangerous trait for people with undiagnosed bipolar to self-medicate with drugs and alcohol. That was certainly the case with me."
Reflecting on her wild younger years, Amanda said: "I was that girl for whom one glass of wine was never enough. It had to be a whole bottle, then another, followed by tequila shots and waking up with a stranger.
"I thought I was just wired that way. Why did I constantly cheat? Why was I always looking for the next thing, the next man, the next conquest?
"Friends laughed at my calamitous love life," Amanda wrote. "And as most of them settled down, got married and had children, I felt compelled to do that, too, as ‘that’s what people did’."
She left London for Australia in her 30s and ended up meeting a 'nice, decent man' who she had 'two beautiful children' with - but for Amanda, 'boredom' soon set in.
"I had a normal job as a journalist, a lovely home by the beach and a beautiful family," the former escort wrote. "Some might call it the white-picket-fence life and say I was lucky. I called it prison."
Amanda revealed that she suffered from post-natal depression, anxiety and anorexia, while she had 'no support' around her due to her loved ones being in the UK.
The mum continued: "I tried to live this predictable life, of being ‘good’ and ‘well behaved,’ but electricity kept surging through my body. Was this my life now? No more men?
"When my youngest was two, I couldn’t stand it any longer and I pressed the detonate button. My partner and I separated, and we decided to share custody 50/50. I didn’t feel sad, I felt free.
"The weeks I had the kids I was Mum, but the seven days off, I was wild. I chased desire without thinking of the consequences.
"One-night stands blurred into affairs, boundaries dissolved and desire always won.
"Cheating websites, anonymous sex - nothing or no one satisfied the insatiable thirst inside me and I couldn’t process what I know now to be trauma."
This is when she transformed into Samantha X and earned a serious reputation on Australia's escort scene - later leading to her penning bestselling memoirs and being flown across the world to appear on talk shows.
But in 2023, she left that life behind and sought treatment for her bipolar disorder, which she says has now allowed her to become 'stable'.
"Being medicated feels like putting glasses on for the first time and seeing reality clearly after a lifetime of blurred lines," Amanda said, adding that she has now returned to journalism while also working as a part-time Pilates teacher.
"It’s a far cry from first-class flights and penthouse suites, but I am the happiest I have ever been," she explained. "I’ve repaired relationships with family and even met a new man six months ago. 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."
Topics: Adult Industry, News, Parenting, Sex and Relationships, Australia, Mental Health
Olivia Burke