A US woman who works as a professional cuddler is revealing the most unusual requests she has received in the last seven years.
Keeley Shoup says her work is completely platonic and non-sexual, and says her clients - who are likely to have suffered from trauma and abuse - have to be fully clothed at all times.
Shoup says she "kind of loves" the strange requests she receives, because it means she has the full trust of her client.
"I've had tickle fights with clients before... I've read books - like children's stories - because they wanted to feel taken care of in that way," Shoup tells the Daily Star.
"I've wrestled around like a puppy with someone before, just to get that sense of play."
She has also played a familiar childhood game with many clients, where she draws a shape on their back and they have to guess it.
The professional cuddler, who earns around US$100 per cuddle session, says she describes the requests as "weird" in the most "loving way possible".
However, Shoup says she is "not going to say yes to everything" and that a small number of clients have asked her to do something sexual, which she does not condone.
"I will hold my own boundaries, and I will never put myself in a position where I'm uncomfortable," she says.
Shoup believes being a professional cuddler is her "life's purpose".
"There's nothing else I would rather do. I want to cuddle people all the time, always. I have an infinite capacity for this stuff."
