'Belle de Jour' is research scientist

LONDON, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Successful author and London call girl Belle de Jour is really obscure British research scientist Brooke Magnanti, The Sunday Times of London revealed.

Magnanti, 34, told the newspaper she is the woman behind the literary mystery of Belle de Jour, the pseudonym of a prostitute who chronicled her affairs in a well-received Internet blog that was adapted into books and a television drama.

She said she turned to prostitution when she ran out of money six years ago in the final stages of writing her Ph.D. thesis and went to work for a London escort agency. Her literary efforts drew much praise for the style but also criticism for making prostitution seem glamorous, The Sunday Times said.

"I couldn't find a professional job in my chosen field because I didn't have my Ph.D. yet," she told the newspaper. "I didn't have a lot of spare time on my hands because I was still making corrections and preparing for the viva; and I got through my savings a lot faster than I thought I would."

She said prostitution appealed to her partly because it wouldn't "require a great deal of training or investment to get started."