With wedding season well underway, hen and stag dos are letting loose on the streets of London.
Although some opt for cocktail-making classes or paintballing, others prefer a more cheeky performance when it comes to celebrating the last days of singlehood.
During lockdown it seems that Londoners were getting their fix of party entertainment with or without a bachelorette party.
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One adult entertainer began to notice how “things started to kick off” during the pandemic and the demand for strippers began to rise in the capital.
Darren Mcguire, 27, decided to seize the opportunity to make some earnings and capitalise on what “bored” city dwellers needed, by providing his strip services around London.
Darren attended gigs during lockdown where couples would have him perform for them in their Mayfair mansions
(Image: Darren Mcguire)
Darren said: “It was literally everything, hen dos, birthday parties, stag dos, and yeah to be honest, 80 or 90 percent was probably people who were just bored.
“There was a lot of restlessness going on in London city.
“You could see people getting really bored and really restless in their houses”.
Over the course of the pandemic, the 27-year-old started to receive invites to the homes of wealthy couples wanting him to perform his solo routines in a Covid-safe environment.
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The Londoner said: “There was one in Mayfair. It was for an Asian couple and they probably had like five different massive rooms in their house which weren’t used at all so they hired four entertainers.
“They hired two boys and two girls, and they paid really well.”
Darren added that high-rollers living around the capital would utilise their enormous homes to adhere to the Covid restrictions and throw lavish and intimate parties
Darren started out hosting ladies night parties wearing just a dickie bow, cufflinks and trousers
(Image: Darren Mcguire)
The Londoner said: “They looked after all of us. Everything was like at the click of a finger when we wanted it, so that was definitely the most high class and well-paid one I went to during Covid.
“These people have a lot of money so they’ve got big homes and big houses, so they would offer money to have a Covid-safe show.
“I would be sanitised and I would be led to a room where it was only me there and everything is disinfected, and I would have to stay at least three metres away from the person but I still performed.”
Darren became curious about the adult entertainment industry after sitting next to a girl in secondary school whose father was a male stripper.
The 27-year-old said: “In school there was a girl I always used to sit next to, and she kind of got bullied because her dad was a male entertainer. Everyone used to make fun of her.
“I didn’t have an interest in it back when I was younger but I just thought, ‘I don’t want to be horrible to you, I’ll just find out what it’s like’.
“I thought it was kind of cool really. I didn’t think anything else about it.
But it was only when the performer left school and went to university that the opportunity presented itself for him to step into the industry.
Darren in his music video for a song called Unapproachable
(Image: Darren Mcguire (YouTube screen grab))
Darren said: “My sister had a restaurant at the time and because it was freshers week she wanted all the students to come in.
“So she said ‘go stand outside, be topless, put some body-paint on and get people in. Give them some free shots and whatever’
“So I put a picture on Instagram of that and the same girl from school contacted me and she said ‘do you wanna come in and do this on ladies night?’”.
The Londoner started off hosting ladies nights wearing a dickie bow, trousers and cufflinks, and by 19-years-old he had moved on to performing solo routines.
Darren said: “I think it was just because I was intrigued; I always loved dancing and I danced a bit before.
“My dad was an entertainer as well, he used to do stage shows like comedy and cabaret and stuff like that, so that always kind of stuck in the back of my head.
“When I was younger I would set up video cameras and kind of perform because I play instruments as well. “I knew I could do what the guys were doing on stage. It was just pretty much like a confidence thing.
Darren started stripping aged 19-years-old while at university
(Image: Darren Mcguire)
When the performer realised he could earn money while studying, it “quickly” improved his confidence in taking the stage alone.
The Londoner said: “When I found out how much they were making, the confidence quickly came about because I was in university at the time, so you know you just need money
“Every university student needs money unless you’re rich and born into it.
Darren decided to ask a friend to teach him the dance routines needed to get the job and he’s been stripping ever since.
The Londoner also took on acting as another form of income, and appeared on various shows such as SAS: Are You Tough Enough? , ITV’s Ibiza Weekender and an episode of Doctors where he played a speaking role as a security guard.
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Although the Londoner enjoys putting on a show, the job does come with it’s downsides, as he has to handle unwanted offers for sex with the utmost professionalism.
The stripper said: “[They’ve offered] thousands for weekends and stuff, nice gifts to go to dinner and things like that but it’s just a bit cringe for me.
“It’s like asking someone who comes and puts your IKEA shelf up, ‘hi, do you want do this after you’ve done this”.
But on one occasion, the performer couldn’t help but laugh after an indecent proposal was made to him.
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Darren said: “I think it was about £500 or £600 to sleep with them in the side room. There was no chance so I just laughed.
“It’s never ever going to happen. It didn’t really end well either.
“Obviously by me laughing at them, they took a bit of disrespect to it but I just thought ‘you didn’t hire me for that’.”
With dreams of pursuing music, the Londoner says that the sex industry side of adult entertainment doesn’t align with his goals.
Darren developed his passion for music at a young age
(Image: Darren Mcguire)
The musician said: “I’m in it to try and make some money and try and push myself in music, I’m not here to do anything else.
“I leave that to the guys who choose to do something else, that’s their market.”
The rap and drill artist hopes to headline music festivals in future by pursuing his deepest passion.
Darren said: “I see myself headlining world music festivals. Maybe Reading and Leeds, in the next two to three years.
“And in five years, I definitely want to be abroad and in the States or somewhere internationally, collaborating with artists, being financially stable and being grateful everyday that I’ve chosen to take a gamble in music and it paid off”.
The performer says that his girlfriend, Lauren, is secure and happy with his job despite the offers he receives from flirtatious clients.
The 27-year-old said: “She’s never had a problem; we’ve never had any arguments about it whatsoever.
“She has the confidence in herself to not have that issue, I can do all the entertaining in the world but ‘m still coming home to her, that’s the main thing”.
To find out more about Darren’s music click here or here .
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https://www.mylondon.news/news/zone-1-news/restless-wealthy-londoners-booked-strippers-21519340
