April 19, 2017
Watch: Queer 'Real World' Star Talks About Being a Professional Cuddler
READ TIME: 2 MIN.
It might be hard to believe but being a professional cuddler is an actual job, one that "The Real World" star Christopher Ammon is revealing.
Speaking to the Huffington Post earlier this month, Ammon, who came out as queer last year while on "Real World," explained a friend introduced him to Cuddlist, a cuddling service that matches professionally trained cuddlers to users.
"A year ago I both came out of the closet and left the Mormon Church while appearing on MTV's 'The Real World,'" Ammon told HuffPo. "I lost my family, my community... everything. It was devastating."
After going through training, Ammon officially became a professional cuddler for Cuddlist.
"I now consider my clients to be some of my dearest friends," he said. "Learning about their lives, their heartaches, their dreams... it helps me to better understand my own."
In a video for the service, Ammon explains that cuddling helps with depression and social isolation. He says he believes cuddling can help those in the LGBT community.
"I want to be a part of the fight against LGBTQIA suicide," Ammon said. "What this does is that it actively fights against loneliness. It creates a space where we can come together and experience intimacy in a safe, non-sexualized way."
Nevertheless, a cuddle session will cost users $80 an hour. In a statement to HuffPo, Cuddlist said its mission is to "address touch deprivation in a safe, professional environment" by using "touch and non-sexual intimacy." The service has 80 trained professional cuddlers who work in major cities in the U.S. There are a set of guidelines Cuddlist provides to clients in order to make sure "the cuddle session remains comfortable for both people."
Watch the clip below.