I give up Oxford to spank males for money then my mum, 61, took up the job as properly

Melissa Todd says what she does is a public service as her clients include pensioners, police and politicians

A woman has revealed how she dropped out of pursuing a prestigious Oxbridge degree in favour of spanking men for cash – and how her 61-year-old mum soon jumped on the bandwagon. While some Brits might be nervous to tell their parents they are abandoning a traditional career route to work as a dominatrix, Melissa Todd had no such qualms.

In fact, her mum was so accepting of her daughter’s chosen path that the model was even allowed to see clients in her childhood home. Then, Melissa’s mum, who would prefer not to be named, ended up following in her footsteps at the age of 61, after being made redundant just a few years before reaching state pension age.

Speaking on the Option One Podcast, presented by Babestation, Melissa lifted the lid on her extraordinary family business. “I got (Mum) into it when she was 61, she went on to her mid 70s,” said the model, who has worked in the industry for around 20 years.

“I was using her house anyway to see clients and she got made redundant. So she thought, oh no, I’ll do that as well.”

And her mother apparently had a natural talent for the job. Melissa said: “She was amazing. She was better than me. She made more money than me as well. It was really annoying.”

Melissa, who performs under the name Miss Matthews, specialises in playing a strict 1950s-style headmistress. Wearing pearls and stockings, she scolds badly behaved adults and dishes out punishments with canes and paddles.

But her clients aren’t necessarily the people you’d expect. The former Oxford University student revealed how many of her own customers are pensioners who save for months to afford their appointments.

And while they might arrive hoping for a good spanking, much of their time is spent having a friendly chat about their grandkids. Asked how much she charges, Melissa said: “Oh, I’m really cheap. Actually, people always say I should put my prices up. It’s usually about £150 an hour.”

She added: “Well, you’ll normally see pensioners. There’s a lot of chat and they like to show me pictures of their grandchildren. So it ends up being about 15 to 20 minutes of spanking.”

Melissa says she deliberately keeps her prices relatively low because some older customers struggle to afford the sessions. She said: “It almost feels like a public service. Which I know sounds ridiculous but often I do see pensioners, and they scrimp and save for months to be able to see me.”

It’s not just pensioners who have an interest in her services. Melissa claims police officers and politicians are among her clientele. She said: “I’ve got quite a lot of police officers as clients. I do get politicians as well.”

Melissa has her own somewhat unexpected connection to politics. She attended the University of Oxford, where she studied politics, philosophy and economics, but quit after a year.

While many who study PPE go into politics she became a stripper. Melissa said: “I hated Oxford, I went mad and dropped out after a year.”

She added: “I became a stripper instead, which was the right thing to do.”

After around 12 years of stripping, she moved into professional domination, building a career around her stern headmistress character. These days, one particularly devoted customer even travels all the way from California to act as her personal butler.

Melissa says the man spends a week accompanying her to expensive restaurants and the theatre, taking her coat and serving her martinis in bed.

And he pays for the privilege. She said: “He accompanies me to the theatre every night, and he takes me for posh dinners and things and takes my coat and stands up when I stand up.”

Asked whether the man pays for their outings, Melissa replied: “Oh, yes. Handsomely. And pays me too. It’s really fun.” Melissa recently appeared on ITV’s Nobody’s Fool, hosted by Danny Dyer and Emily Atack, and is now taking her stories onto the comedy stage.

Her stand-up show, Gag Writer, sees her perform as Miss Matthews, sharing outrageous tales from her work and scolding members of the audience. And after two decades in the business, Melissa believes her age is an advantage rather than a drawback.

She said: “The older I get, obviously, the better I get at it. They like older women, so it’s a job for life.”