Amanda Goff spent years living a double life that looked glamorous from the outside and exhausting from the inside. In Australia, she became one of the most recognisable names in the escort world after reinventing herself as Samantha X. The work brought luxury hotels, expensive dinners, and constant attention, but it also pulled her further away from the calm life she thought she was supposed to want. Now she is explaining why she stepped away and why she says she feels better than ever.
Before the drastic pivot, Goff tried to follow a path that seemed safe and respectable. She has described attempting to settle into routine while feeling restless and dissatisfied, saying, “I tried to live this predictable life, of being ‘good’ and ‘well behaved,’ but electricity kept surging through my body.” That tension built as she tried to convince herself everything was fine, even as she felt trapped by expectations. The breaking point arrived when her youngest child was still very small and she realised she could not keep pretending.
Goff has said that when her youngest was two, she made a decision that changed everything, ending her relationship and restructuring family life. In her own words, “My partner and I separated, and we decided to share custody 50/50. I didn’t feel sad, I felt free.” That sense of freedom did not come from a new romance or a big purchase, but from finally choosing a life that felt like her own. Soon after, she began leaning into a new identity that promised excitement, validation, and the thrill she felt had gone missing.
Under the Samantha X persona, she built a successful career in the escort scene and later launched an agency focused on women over 40. She has described enjoying the high end trappings that came with wealthy clients, the travel, and the champagne. She also framed the arrangement in blunt financial terms, writing, “If a man wanted to pay me five grand for dinner (and dessert…) and to be perfectly nice company, then why the hell not?” For a while, that logic made the lifestyle feel uncomplicated, at least on the surface.
Behind the scenes, though, Goff has said the reality was far messier than the curated image. She admitted she was “an absolute mess,” and pointed to deeper emotional drivers that had little to do with money. She has also described an “addiction to male attention” as a force that shaped her choices, especially during periods when she felt unsteady and craved validation. In other interviews and writing referenced in coverage of her story, she summed it up starkly, “The only time I felt loved, seen, adored, desired … was when men were giving me attention.”
A major turning point came when she received a diagnosis in 2023 and began looking back at her past through a new lens. Goff has said she was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder and came to believe it influenced many of the impulsive decisions, relationship chaos, and constant drama that followed her for years. Rather than treating her history as a string of moral failures, she started interpreting it as a warning sign she had missed for too long. That shift opened the door to treatment and a different kind of stability.
After stepping away from sex work, she returned to journalism and began working as a pilates teacher as well. The lifestyle is less flashy, but she has described it as far more grounding, especially once therapy and medication became part of her routine. Goff offered a simple comparison for what treatment felt like, saying, “Being medicated feels like putting glasses on for the first time and seeing reality clearly after a lifetime of blurred lines.” She has also spoken about repairing family relationships and finding new love, describing meeting a new partner about six months ago and finally feeling calm in a way she never could before.
Her story sits at the intersection of reinvention, mental health, and the complicated realities of sex work. Escorting is typically framed as paid companionship that can include a range of arrangements depending on the person, the client, and the legal setting. In Australia, sex work laws vary by state and have been shifting in recent years, with reforms in places like Victoria and Queensland focusing on decriminalisation and worker safety, while New South Wales has long operated under a model that is largely decriminalised with specific offences still on the books. Whatever someone thinks about the industry, Goff’s account highlights how easy it is to confuse external success with internal wellbeing.
It also highlights how mental health conditions can go unrecognised for years, especially when someone is high functioning on the outside. The World Health Organization describes bipolar disorder as involving mood swings between manic episodes and depressive episodes, while the NHS notes that people may experience highs such as mania or hypomania and lows such as depression that can last days or weeks. Those patterns can affect sleep, decision making, relationships, and risk taking, which is why a proper assessment and treatment plan can be life changing. Goff’s emphasis on therapy, medication, and stability is a reminder that getting the right help can reframe an entire life story.
What do you think about Amanda Goff’s decision to walk away from a high profile persona and rebuild a quieter life, share your thoughts in the comments.
