As the sounds of Marvin Gaye drift across the plush London penthouse overlooking the Thames four men, stripped to their underwear, drape long feathers across the naked backs of moaning women.
This isn’t a private spa or swingers club but an “orgasm workshop”. I’m here to witness first hand the work of self-proclaimed “Sex Mentor” Colin Richards.
According to Colin’s website, Intimacy Matters, his aim is to “teach people how to achieve better physiological and emotional sexual fulfilment”.
Fifteen years ago Colin found himself millions in debt after the stock market crash and was forced to close his seaside hotel.
After taking lessons in Swedish massage, he began to realise the power of intimate touch. A certified relationship therapist, he combined his talents to help those struggling to have an orgasm.
In short, if you were a woman or man unable to climax, Colin could use his expert hands to get you there.
Now Colin’s clients range from women trapped in strict religious marriages to curious couples looking to invigorate their sex lives.
Prices range from £95 per person for a group lesson to £175 for a private session.
But it’s Colin’s newest venture, his “License To Thrill” workshops, that I’m here to observe. The four-hour class is designed “for the man who wants to expand his expertise in sensual foreplay and sexual performance so his partner can enjoy hours of pleasure”.
Using a series of increasingly intimate massage techniques, he teaches men to bring female volunteers to climax.
Strict rules allow use of the hands only – no penetration.
Colin , 56, also runs “Massage Your Man” classes for women, but tonight I’m joined by three male paying customers: Greg*, 48, who is recently divorced and looking to “widen his skill-set”, Fellipe*, a 27-year-old Spanish student who is currently dating several women, and Peter*, 30, who tells me he just wants to make his girlfriend happy.
When I arrive at the flat, I’m greeted by one of Colin’s female assistants with plates of cheese and wine.
Before we begin, we’re handed an A4 printout entitled “101 Steps To Take Your Lady To La La Land”.
This is a step-by-step guide to taking your partner to climax, including instructions such as “knead her buttock muscles in a figure of eight motion”.
In the middle of Colin’s living room two female volunteers lie naked on massage tables, their modesty covered by towels.
Bowls of hot oil are laid out next to them. Music, low lighting and nibbles complete the scene. “It’s as much about the psychology as the physical experience. You need to put people in a state of complete relaxation before you get more intimate,” he tells me, slowly removing the towels. “I’ve given over 9,000 massages and almost every one ended in an orgasm.”
Gregg’s eyes light up like car headlights on full beam as Colin gently removes the towels and hands everyone a long feather and a spindly massage tool he calls “Angel Fingers”.
The first part of the session deals mainly in established massage techniques, including light tickles with the feather and firmer hand strokes.
Colin explains a simple “hand squeezing” system, where the man can place his hand in that of the volunteer at any time and she can respond with a squeeze to let them know they are happy and enjoying the experience.
After an interval in which Colin serves his guests cocktail sausages and answers questions the second, more intimate, half of the evening begins.
The shirts are off, the lights are dimmed and the smooth jazz is turned up.
As the women flip onto their backs, Colin shows the other students exactly how to bring them to climax.
With two men to each woman, it’s an uncomfortable experience at times, especially as Colin oversees proceedings, interjecting with tips and in some cases guiding the students hands. The strokes become steadily more intimate and there’s no longer any need for hand squeezing – the women are clearly having fun.
While the workshop is a little too much for me, the results are undeniable. Colin’s techniques do work, at least on the volunteers present this evening. There’s a danger that some of his clients may just be happily paying for the chance to grope a naked lady for four hours, but for Colin himself this is purely professional. “It would be crazy to say I don’t feel any arousal, of course I do,” he explains.
“But what really turns me on are the moments when I make a real difference to someone’s life. That’s better than any sexual pleasure.” Thankfully his partner, Claire, 49, who he met on Tinder two years ago, is fully supportive. “When I first told her what I did for a living, she was a little surprised to say the least,” he says. “But now she’s seen it’s not sleazy, it’s helping people. It took a bit of explaining to her kids though.”
To those who accuse him of selling sex, Colin says: “I work with sex in the same way that Jamie Oliver works with food. What’s the difference between teaching someone who could only cook beans on toast to make a fabulous meal and helping a sexually inexperienced person to master their skills in the bedroom?”
Colin’s classes may not be for everybody. This was by far the most unusual evening class I’ve ever attended. But in a digital age where sex is becoming increasingly fast and disposable, teaching men (and women) to spend more time listening and responding to their partners’ needs can only be a good thing.
* Names have been changed
