NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

'It never happened': Model claims $3.9M virginity auction was just a publicity stunt

news.com.au
17 Apr, 2018 06:45 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

'It never happened': Model claims $3.9M virginity auction was just a publicity stunt. Source: ITV This Morning

A Romanian model who claimed to have auctioned her virginity for AU$3.7 million (NZ$3.92 million) to a Hong Kong businessman now says the whole thing was a publicity stunt that has "ruined my life".

Aleexandra Khefren, who first made global headlines in 2016 with an appearance on UK morning TV and last year said the deal had been done, told pornography website Sugarcookie the "virgin auctions" were just a marketing tool used by controversial website Cinderella Escorts.

"It never happened," Ms Khefren said in a video interview with Sugarcookie founder Harriet Sugarcookie released this month. "Like, [there] was no bidder. I didn't sell my virginity."

She said she first got involved after being contacted by Cinderella Escorts on social media, and that the website offered her a "marketing proposal".

"The plan was that ... I would kind of become famous with my modelling career, become a celebrity and all that stuff, and they will get so much publicity on their escort site," Ms Kefren said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She said she was "promised what happened in the UK would stay in the UK" and that nobody from her home country would find out, but "it went global in like one or two hours" and has "ruined my life forever since then".

"I thought, I'm just going to this TV show, I'm just going to tell some lies," Ms Khefren said. "He wrote me two pages just to learn and memorise, they wanted to create a story about myself to make people feel sorry for me.

"They told me that they would not give my real name and my real country. When I got back home I tried every day to drive my parents out of the house to a restaurant or something so they could not watch the news."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

She said she did take a "virginity test" at a Romanian hospital even though it was a publicity stunt, because "when they contacted the news" they were told, "How can we know she's a virgin? We need a certificate."

With Ms Khefren's appearance on UK TV making national headlines in Romania, her parents finally found out when a reporter from the BBC contacted her uncle.

"I got a lot of hate, the media was attacking me," she said. "They were really, really hard on me. I felt attacked, bullied, and I didn't expect that, even from my friends, classmates. They called me a liar."

Ms Khefren said she had lost her family and friends, fallen into depression and attempted suicide "multiple times" since. She said she felt guilty for being a "bad influence" on other women. "Many, many girls wrote to me, 'Hey Alex, how was using Cinderella Escorts, should I sell my virginity?'," she said.

Discover more

Business

Tesla suspends Model 3 production - again

17 Apr 10:16 PM
Business

China hits fresh US crop in trade row

17 Apr 11:05 PM

"I got hundreds of messages from girls asking how to contact the agency and work for them. Cinderella Escorts told me to send them to them."

She said she didn't forward any of their numbers, but gave them the link to the website. Ms Khefren said even it if weren't a publicity stunt, she wouldn't have sold her virginity. "I wouldn't do it even for a billion dollars," she said.

News.com.au contacted Ms Khefren for comment but she requested €500 ($800) for a phone interview.

Sugarcookie alleges Cinderella Escorts' founder is not German man Jan Zakobielski, as named and photographed in local media, but a Greek man who uses the publicity from the "virgin auctions" to lure women to work in seedy Athens brothels.

Sugarcookie alleges Mr Zakobielski is only an employee. In an email, Cinderella Escorts denied the allegations, saying Harriet Sugarcookie was a "porn producer who try to make her porn fame with this claims".

The website said that it dropped Ms Khefren "just a few days before meeting the client" after discovering through her Instagram that she had a boyfriend, a Romanian rapper, and had appeared in his music video.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Cinderella Escorts is owned and operated by me, Jan Zakobielski," he said when asked whether he was using an alias, attaching a photograph of a German ID card.

"Any responsible journalist would be able to discover this very quickly by looking at the company documents filed in Germany. I need to inform you that pushing this wrong claims will have legal consequences."

He said the Greek man named by the porn website was Ms Khefren's "ex-boyfriend". "He sent us the screenshots of Aleexandra's Instagram when he found out she had a new boyfriend," he said. "We told her who informed us. That's why she is against him and claims he is working for Cinderella Escorts. This is absolutely not true.

"We got a client for Aleexandra, over £2 million. Our security system to protect our clients was successful and we found out that she had pictures of her and a Romanian rapper, her boyfriend on Instagram.

"Not very smart. We contacted her with it and finally kicked her out. I think it was hard enough for her, to get kicked out and lose £2 million just a few days before meeting the client.

"She was very angry with us. She started a campaign against us in Romanian newspapers with a lot of lies that this was all a marketing strategy. As you can understand, losing £2 million because of our decision make her hating us and try to make dirty campaigns."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

- News.com.au

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
World

'Can't assume it's harmless': Experts warn on marijuana's heart risks

20 Jun 03:20 AM
Lifestyle

Study: Sleeping over 9 hours raises death risk by 34%

20 Jun 12:57 AM
Premium
Lifestyle

5 keys to a healthy diet, according to nutrition experts

20 Jun 12:00 AM

Help for those helping hardest-hit

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Premium
'Can't assume it's harmless': Experts warn on marijuana's heart risks

'Can't assume it's harmless': Experts warn on marijuana's heart risks

20 Jun 03:20 AM

The average age of patients in the study was just 38, highlighting risks for younger adults.

Study: Sleeping over 9 hours raises death risk by 34%

Study: Sleeping over 9 hours raises death risk by 34%

20 Jun 12:57 AM
Premium
5 keys to a healthy diet, according to nutrition experts

5 keys to a healthy diet, according to nutrition experts

20 Jun 12:00 AM
Beer, tonics, sauces: Why is does Japanese citrus yuzu seem to be everywhere right now?

Beer, tonics, sauces: Why is does Japanese citrus yuzu seem to be everywhere right now?

19 Jun 11:59 PM
Inside Leigh Hart’s bonkers quest to hand-deliver a SnackaChangi chip to every Kiwi
sponsored

Inside Leigh Hart’s bonkers quest to hand-deliver a SnackaChangi chip to every Kiwi

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP