A VICAR'S wife has spoken of how she once worked as a stripper to help support her family.

Diane Stevenson, 44, who is married to the Rev David Stevenson, of St Mary's Church, Eastwood, originally wrote about it in a parish magazine article about first impressions.

She said was desperate for a job after the birth of her eldest son, from a previous marriage, in May 1988.

Mrs Stevenson said: "I needed to work to help pay the bills so I scoured around Nottingham asking in shops and factories for a job. Unfortunately nobody could offer anything.

"Desperate, I walked into a well-known place and was offered a job – only the job was as a stripper. I took it.

"My first evening was awful – I came home and cried as I didn't want to go back but being desperate for money, I did. I thought that if I did it for a month and did not like it I could give it up. After a few weeks I loved it. The girls I worked with were really good fun and the two guys who were there were great too. The wages were good and I used to get extra bonuses."

Mrs Stevenson did the work from when her son was ten weeks old. She did the job for just over a year, before giving it up when she become pregnant again in 1989.

She said: "I still kept in touch with the girls up to even recently and still reminisce about our stripping days. It just goes to show that when you are desperate you will do anything for money."

Mrs Stevenson said the stripping was in her past, and should not affect how people see her now: "So who do you say I am? Mother, student, wife, ex-stripper and many more? Who does Jesus say I am and does his opinion of me change with what I do?"