Professional cuddler

Spooning peacefully in a double bed, this pair could be any normal couple on a Sunday morning.  But revisit the scene an hour later and Jackie Samuel will be curled up in the arms of another man.  The 29-year-old is a professional cuddler.

 She turned to snuggling with strangers to help pay for her studies and provide for her young son.  She can make $260 a day and cuddles with up to 30 men a week - including pensioners and war veterans.  However, her business 'The Snuggery' has not gone unnoticed and her college has threatened to expel her - while others have called her a prostitute.  She said: 'I think I was born knowing how to snuggle. Snuggling is healthy, spiritual and fun.


  'I think clients come to me for all different kinds of reasons. Some of my older clients, their wives have passed away, and they just need someone to be with, like someone to experience touch with.  'Some of the younger clients are between relationships, some are in problematic relationships, and some people are just really curious and they come to just find out what it's going to be like.'

Jackie advertises her services online and charges $60 an hour.  The cuddling can take place anywhere around her cottage in Rochester, New York, but most clients opt to use her large double bed.  They are banned from touching parts of her body covered by underwear, which she wears under pyjamas.  The business has done so well she has even hired another snuggling professional, Colleen.

 Her apprentice has yet to take on a client by herself but has joined Jackie on two occasions in what they have termed a 'double cuddle'.  Despite her strict rules on sexual activity, Jackie has received a barrage of emails and phone calls slamming her as a prostitute.
 
 She added: 'Some have said I am worse than a prostitute because they think snuggling is more intimate than sex. I've been told I'm monetizing love.'  One of her repeat customers, who would only give his name as Tim, disagrees with her critics.  He said Jackie's cuddles had helped him following a bad break-up and described the sessions as 'meditative'.  He even said he would continue to see her while in a relationship.  'There's no cheating element, it's not immoral,' he said.