Binman blew £150k after working as escort to fund booze and drug behavior
Mason Ross became an escort for men, women and couples from age 16 to fund his drink and drug habits – and could earn as much as £4,200 a week
Mason has turned his life around(Image: Mason Ross / SWNS)
A binman who worked as a £4,200-a-week escort to fund a two-gram-a-day cocaine habit ended up suffering drug-induced psychosis during which he beat himself up.
Mason Ross, 27, was left with poor mental health in his mid-teens after his father died, and he experienced a sexual assault by an acquaintance.
The trauma caused him to fall into cocaine and alcohol to help him numb his mental health and he led a party lifestyle to distract himself. Mason, a refuse collector from Leicester, became an escort for men, women and couples aged 16 onwards, using a fake ID, to fund his drug habits.
An average day would see him consume a 700ml bottle of Bacardi every day, along with 2g of cocaine – although he once consumed 6g in one session.
He could earn as much as £4,200 a week through escorting clients – and said it all went on drugs, booze and the party lifestyle. He estimates he wasted a staggering £150,000 – £120 to £150 a day.
He has turned his life round now(Image: Mason Ross / SWNS)
But as the years passed, things took a dark turn for Mason when the drugs began to cause psychosis where sufferers lose touch with reality.
He ended up punching himself in the face and biting chunks out of his hands, and he tried to take his own life several times.
Finally, his turning point came on a family holiday in 2023 where he went into psychosis in front of his whole family, including children, and he realised he needed to go sober.
Now after 12 years of daily alcohol and cocaine binges, Mason is clean after going cold-turkey with the help of therapy, and has fought to remain clean ever since after realising the habit would claim his life if he didn’t.
He said: “I got into drugs when I got a job working at food vans at festivals, and I was getting on it every day popping pills, sniffing coke, and drinking loads.
“When I turned 16 I put myself on escorting websites, but I had to be drunk or high to go ahead with anything, so that made it worse.
“I could do an hour or two maximum, it was quick money and could earn £750 a day – although I never had anything to show for it because it all went on drugs. I could go out for four or five days, sat in someone’s kitchen, and come home to have an emotional breakdown.
“I ended up severely underweight, malnourished and anaemic – I didn’t really eat except for alcohol, drugs and maybe a tin of tuna a day. I probably spent over £150,000 over the years.
“Since I finally got sober, I’ve not touched a drug or drink. My energy levels and mental health are 100 times better.
“I’m so thankful now – I look back, and wonder how I didn’t end up dead.”
He says he would hit himself during binges(Image: Mason Ross / SWNS)
Mason turned to drink and drugs after some traumatic experiences in his early teens, using them as a coping mechanism.
Soon he was using cocaine and drinking daily, and ended up turning to escorting to pay for his habits – as it was lucrative work for minimal hours.
But, while living with his mother, all of the money he earnt would go on drugs and booze.
He said: “I didn’t want to take drugs alone so I’d be sat in a kitchen sniffing coke with my friends.
“I’d pay for them to stay home from work in exchange for them staying and taking drugs with me.”
Over time Mason’s health suffered – with kidney and liver pain from his binges, hangovers, comedowns and being severely underweight from not eating.
His mental health also took a turn as psychosis kicked in – culminating in him frequently harming himself and attempting to take his own life four times.
He said: “I had maybe one good meal a week. My mum used to make me dinner and I’d never eat it because I was coming down and had no appetite.
“I’d get maybe two hours of sleep a night, and I’d be sweating the whole time.”
This went on for 12 years until his turning point came in July 2025 while on a family trip away.
He hurt himself during his years taking drugs(Image: Mason Ross / SWNS)
Mason said: “There were nine of us on this trip, the first family holiday in 23 years. I ruined it, I got on it before and ended up viciously hurting myself in front of my niece and nephew.
“I threatened the guy behind the bar so he would find me drugs, so I was sniffing coke while I was in Majorca.
“I stared over the balcony one night and genuinely considered getting drunk and jumping off. Afterwards, I felt so awful that I had shown that to my family. I knew I couldn’t keep doing this.”
He landed back in the UK with a new mindset focused on sobriety.
He said: “Withdrawal was awful, the first two weeks I was sweating, not sleeping, eating even less than before.
“I started to feel better after the initial comedown but I wanted to drink every time I went outside so I didn’t leave my house for a long time. Gradually I started meeting friends and family again.”
Mason has stuck to his sobriety ever since – and having just celebrated the year anniversary of being clean, he is in the process of launching a recovery and wellness centre to help others like himself.
Having secured several grants from community schemes and the council, the centre will give recovering addicts access to therapy, exercise classes, sober social spaces, career support and even travel opportunities.
Mason said: “There are lots of people who think there is no way out, like I did.
“What I went through was really sad and traumatic but I’m grateful for each lesson my trauma taught me so I can help others. “You can get a uni degree, but what I know only comes from experience.”
