I hired a male escort for my 70th birthday - The Sunday Story
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 2 November 2025
⏱️ 25 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Gail Rice had given up on dating apps and was dreading old age. Then the psychologist had an idea — book a hotel room for a landmark birthday and pay a stranger to turn her on. Would it work?
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Read by: Olivia Case.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producer: Dave Creasey.
Read more: My 70th birthday treat? I hired a male escort
Clips: Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, Searchlight Pictures.
Photo: Isabella Moore for The Times Magazine.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story on Sunday. I'm Manvina. |
| 0:14.6 | Today, we wanted to bring you a piece from the magazine that certainly stopped us in our tracks. |
| 0:20.6 | For Gail Rice, turning 70, was a big moment, |
| 0:24.4 | and she wanted to do something different to mark the occasion. |
| 0:28.5 | She thought of skydiving or travelling around the world, |
| 0:31.3 | but then an idea struck her. |
| 0:33.7 | Why not do something radically different? |
| 0:37.4 | Why not book a male escort? |
| 0:40.8 | Olivia Case reads Gail's story, a hilarious and poignant tale, which you can find online at |
| 0:47.9 | the times.com. |
| 1:00.2 | I hired an escort for my 70th birthday. |
| 1:08.6 | I wanted to plan a celebration that would counter the dread I was feeling as I crossed the border from middle-aged to elderly. |
| 1:14.1 | It needed to be something that would shock me awake, something that would plug me in again |
| 1:20.0 | and inspire me to dance, not shuffle, into the next decade. |
| 1:27.2 | If it hadn't been for Emma Thompson in good luck to you, Leo Grand, |
| 1:31.4 | I would never have imagined hiring an escort. |
| 1:35.2 | Our stories were worlds apart. |
| 1:38.6 | Her character fossilised in a marriage, |
| 1:41.3 | and I was more like tumbleweed, |
| 1:43.8 | never taking root in a marriage, and I was more like tumbleweed, never taking root in a relationship. |
| 1:51.1 | Number one, I perform oral sex on you. Number two, you perform oral sex on me. Number three, we do a 69, if that's what it's still called. I don't know. Four, |
| 2:03.5 | me on top. Five, doggie style. That all sounds very achievable. Oh, does it? Oh, good. |
... |
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