Cleo in a fetish outfit. Selling sex, intimacy and acceptance, Wellington sex worker Cleo takes Katie Harris and Cheree Kinnear inside their life as a non-binary Wellington escort. When Cleo steps into the bedroom at the affluent Wellington brothel, they put on more than just a physical costume.
On the job, Cleo is hyper-feminine, dolled-up to the nines, but in real life they are non-binary. To their clients, they have "high heels on, bimbo energy", but outside the brothel, Cleo is at home in board shorts and a singlet. Their friends refer to them as a "himbo", he-bimbo, wearing the "year-old skater-boy aesthetic".
Even clients they've seen face-to-face outside of work while wearing their more androgynous clothing have been unable to recognise them. They hope that by sharing their story with the Herald on Sunday, it will encourage people to educate themselves before passing judgment, and to respect sex workers.
Usually, clients book out an hour or a 90 minute session with Cleo, meaning they would generally see a maximum of three to four people a shift - but some submissive clients require up to three hours for a dominatrix session. Same with full-service, I know one of my friends had a booking with a client that was like six or seven hours I think. Everything is priced individually, they said, with clients purchasing a certain amount of time and then paying for "extras", like certain sex acts or the "girlfriend experience", which is a more intimate session that includes kissing and oral sex.
When it comes to client selection at Cleo's brothel, which caters to a wide range of clientele, their pimp texts them and asks if they want to see a certain client. But on some occasions, clients have ignored the rules, coercing them into doing things they're not comfortable with or trying to remove a condom. My negative experiences have all risen from clients crossing boundaries and previous management disrespecting me as a contractor setting those boundaries.
