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Call-Girl Scientist's Dad: I Had 150 Hookers

Belle du Jour's father stunned by daughter's double life

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 17, 2009 8:23 AM CST

(Newser) – The father of Britain's most famous call-girl-turned-research-scientist Brooke Magnanti says he has used more than 150 prostitutes himself, and introduced his daughter to some of them. Paul Magnanti, whose daughter's double life has captivated the British press, says meeting the women showed her the "human face" of selling sex. Magnanti's blog about her sex work became a TV series and best-selling book. She revealed her identity over the weekend.

'I am glad that she is no longer a prostitute. In my experience prostitution is wrong and corrupts people," Magnanti tells the Daily Mail. "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.'

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Billie Piper is shown as Belle in the TV series "Secret Diary of a Call Girl," which was based on Dr. Magnanti's blog. (AP Photo/Showtime)

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She has not done anything wrong. Brooke is a very independent woman, and I support whatever she has done.
- Paul Magnanti

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Call-Girl Scientist's Dad: I Had 150 Hookers