WATCH: A Victoria woman is offering her clients the human touch they may not be getting at home. And as Jonathan Bartlett reports, her snuggle service is a big hit.
VANCOUVER – Ever heard of paying for a cuddle or a snuggle with someone? The service, which is gaining in popularity around the world, is spiking in interest in Victoria, B.C.
Alexis Anderson started a cuddle service a few months ago and she said the interest so far in what she does has been amazing.
She has been a masseuse for seven years and took a course called “The Art for Conscious Touch.” When she read an article in a U.K. newspaper about a woman who started a snuggle business she immediately became intrigued.
“I thought, ‘Wow, not everybody could do that kind of thing, but I could’,” she said. “I knew that I had the personality type to be able to do that.”
Anderson sat on the idea for a few years until this past July when set up a website. However, she decided not tell anyone about it right away. “If it fails, then I fail alone and no one has to know,” she said. “But if it’s good then I’m going to let my friends and family know.”
Business and interest has been booming ever since.
“It is a needed service and I do have clients,” she said. “I just absolutely love it.”
Anderson currently has five regular cuddle clients a week and then some drop-ins. People can book one- to two-hour sessions, at the cost of $60 an hour.
“It’s a good match for my personality,” she said. It also allows her to set her own hours and work from home.
What is a cuddle service?
When someone calls to book a service, Anderson first chats with them on the phone and then they meet in a public place to discuss the cuddle service and sign a waiver.
“As soon as I say ‘waiver,’ if anyone is looking for another type of service they simply say ‘oh, okay bye’,” said Anderson. “That’s the end of the conversation so people that are serious about wanting the human connection and the snuggle and cuddle, they are more than willing and they completely understand why I would want to meet them in a public space and make sure we’re on the same page.”
After that initial meeting, clients either go to Anderson’s home or she travels to their home. She said she gets people contacting her who are dealing with all sorts of situations – from being a widow or being lonely to it just being a long time since they were held by someone.
“Most people want to be held,” she said. “They’re welcome to hold me, be the big or little spoon, some people just want to hold hands, some people just want an arm around them, some people have strong emotions come up, and some people just want silence and they want to snooze.”
She said some people just want permission to disconnect from their daily lives and they still want that human connection. A couple of her clients are also asexual and while they are not attracted to either gender, they still need human touch.
“Some people are recovering from illness or are ill, or they’re disabled and some people are mentally unwell and they feel very alone or isolated,” said Anderson. “It’s a wide range.”
She added some people talk during the session and some don’t, it really depends on what they are looking for.
But Anderson is clear this is not in any way a sexual service.
“Arousal, if it does happen, I think that it’s something that can come and go,” she said. “I’ve never had a bad experience. People respect boundaries when you are providing a service to them.”
Anderson also downplays her own sexuality because she is not trying to misconstrue what is going on in these cuddle sessions. “I think maybe in some cases one of my clients has felt aroused, it’s come and gone, or maybe they’ve turned over and asked me to be the big spoon.”
When asked how she responds to criticisms about cuddle sessions, Anderson said everyone is entitled to their opinion. “I would just say don’t knock it ’till you’ve tried it,” she said. “And also, a lot of those people, maybe they already have people they’re close to, maybe they have a partner, maybe they have close friends that they can rely on for that kind of comfort but there are some people out there that do not.”
“Those are the people that are coming to me for my service.”
Anyone can contact Anderson on Facebook or through her website, snuggleservice.ca and inquire about a session.
“As far I as can tell, the world needs a whole lot of love right now,” she said.
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