Sugar baby paid £10,000 a month by her sugar daddy and they're thinking of getting married
They've been seeing each other for two years and are now boyfriend and girlfriend
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.As a sugarbaby, 33-year-old Gail currently earns £10,000 a month.
She’s been in the “sugar dating scene” for about five years, after moving to Atlanta and struggling to make money, meet guys and make friends.
“I was going into it for companionship, to find a potential husband or suitor,” she explained to Refinery29.
But being a sugar baby gave Gail a very glamorous lifestyle: “The most extravagant gift was probably a private plane that I could use whenever I wanted, I just had to tell the guy when I wanted it and where I wanted to go.”
She receives lots of meals out and drinks, concerts, art gallery openings, trips abroad and pampering.
“As a woman, the best way to put it is that you’re being treated like a princess. If you want certain things and they’re okay with giving them, you can get them. You just have to ask for it.”
But Gail’s latest sugar baby relationship is a little different in that she’s actually fallen for her sugar daddy.
She met her current boyfriend, who is 50, on Arrangement.com they’re now in an exclusive relationship.
Gail met him about two years ago when he was going through a divorce: “After a few months of being together, it became a relationship,” she says. “There are no other romantic partners involved on either end.
“I went into this not knowing what the endgame would be, but now I’m like, this is the man I think I’m going to marry. He has a kid, and his kid and his ex-wife know me, but it was never presented as, ‘This is my sugar baby, I’m her sugar daddy.’”
It was Gail who initiated the conversation about being exclusive too, after spending lots of time with her sugar daddy and finding herself falling for him.
“I casually asked what he thought about making this an exclusive arrangement, or whether he could see us getting out of this industry and becoming a more traditional relationship,” she says.
“We thought about it for a couple months, thought about what it would mean to us, and how much we were invested in each other. Both of us were hesitant at first - our relationship was created through these sugar dating websites, but we really talked about it, and ultimately agreed on it.”
Emotionally and sexually, she’s only with her boyfriend, but she’s allowed to go on dates with other sugar daddies to further her career and network. It’s considered her job rather than anything else.
But Gail doesn’t really want her boyfriend going out with other women, even though he’s allowed to.
“I’m assuming if our relationship were to progress to an engagement, we would both stop dating,” she says. “We talk about marriage a lot, and I think he’s also ready for that, when the time is right.”
Gail’s boyfriend still treats her as a sugar baby, paying for her rent, student loans, presents and trips abroad:
“He probably gives me around $12,000 (£9,600) a month for living expenses,” she says. “Even though we live together, I still have a separate apartment so that's $2,700 (£2,160) a month for a 1-bedroom in Atlanta.”
She spends her money on presents for others and electronics for herself, such as new Apple watches: “I’m really invested in networking and communications so I look at those things as necessary.”
But over her time in the industry, Gail has made money by reselling gifts and thinks she’s made around a couple of hundred thousand dollars that way.
“We’re talking Cartier bracelets and Tiffany diamonds, and some expensive items I didn’t need or didn’t want to hang onto,” she says. “And I do pay taxes on what I make in sugar dating.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments