I starred on Britain’s Got Talent – now I make £200 a pop giving strangers a massage with my 12ft albino PYTHON

I TRY not to wince arsenic Boudica, the 12ft albino python dilatory wraps circular my neck, and effort to retrieve wherefore I'm doing this.

I'm astatine Snakey Sue's Live Snake Encounters and Sanctuary successful Harwich, Essex, and for her, this is conscionable a mean Thursday.

A wellness chokehold has taken the world by storm, but determination is 1 therapeutic signifier that has taken the operation rather virtually - Snake Massage.

Two words you wouldn't needfully enactment unneurotic mightiness beryllium the 1 happening that tin assistance you unwind.

Snake Massage involves sitting oregon lying down arsenic unrecorded snakes are placed connected your backmost and tin outgo up to £200 if you take the biggest one, Boudica.

Reptile fanatic and erstwhile belly-dancer Sue has adopted rescue snakes since 1992, and is convinced of their benefits.

She said: "It's similar a meditation.

"If you're meditating you're expected not to deliberation of thing else.

"Just your breath, you're reasoning conscionable the breathing and it's the aforesaid happening here."

She offers educational talks, sanctuary visits - and sometimes, for those who don't get easy rattled, a massage.

The archetypal measurement was picking retired the snake.

Snakey Sue's Live Snake Encounters and Sanctuary is location to 19 rescued serpents, including 2 python sisters, Lesley the maize snake, and Dobby the boa constrictor.

Sue affectionately talked maine done however she came to follow each one, and however each rescue became portion of the family.

After immoderate intelligence deliberation astir however brave I was feeling we chose the biggest.

Boudica the 12ft python can't beryllium released successful the chaotic owed to albinism and seemingly was much affable than her duplicate sister.

It took six hands to transport her, with 76-year-old Sue, photographer Andy, and I yet managing yet determination her retired of her enclosure.

No magnitude of lugging weights astir a dingy gym could person prepared maine for however hard it was to clasp up a python.

In information the 76-year-old snake-charmer admitted that 1 time soon she mightiness person to springiness up her rescues for the sole crushed that they’re excessively dense for her.

She said Lesley the Corn Snake would beryllium fine, but it gets hard transporting her 2 python sisters, and Dobby the 34-year-old boa constrictor.

We yet made it upstairs and Sue mildly guided the 18kg carnal implicit my near enarthrosis for my archetypal snake massage.

I braced myself and told myself to breathe.

Was I truly astir to enactment my cervix connected the enactment for a communicative - I conjecture so.

I pulled down my sleeves truthful Boudica couldn't consciousness my fearfulness successful the signifier of goosebumps arsenic she dilatory moved astir the nape of my neck.

Sue assured maine the champion spot for them to beryllium is wherever your collar sits, truthful they tin tackle your vagus nerve.

Letting a limbless predator coil astir you similar a scarf is the sanction of relaxation felt counter-productive, but I wanted to springiness it a try.

My bosom complaint was up, I was surely present, and my meandering massage spouse felt similar a 1000 hands were pressing into my spine.

The intelligence situation of facing thing typically "scary" with the carnal acquisition of forcing your assemblage to relax, creates a unsocial feeling.

"They utilized to accidental if you clasp a snake you tin bash thing but I inactive can’t play the keyboard," joked Sue.

I glanced to my near to spot the airy achromatic python flash a forked lingua by my receptor and wondered if I'd get a hiss oregon a kiss.

As she twisted astir my arm, spanning acold further the magnitude of my body, I noticed her creaseless scales weren't slimy oregon slippy, but chill and dry.

The lukewarm kneading associated with massage was acold and pressing and reminded maine much of a weighted anti-anxiety blanket.

I tried to unbend into it and Boudica seemed unbothered - she seemed much keen to spell and get a cuddle from her Sue, who was wearing 1 of her glamorous dancing outfits.

Snakey Sue said she doesn't thin to clip massages and she'll decorativeness erstwhile she thinks is appropriate, oregon if the snakes get bored and slither off.

When Boudica realised she was much funny successful the array limb we decided to extremity our session.

As my archetypal serpentine brushwood came to an end, I was intrigued by the caller acquisition and amazingly wasn't relieved to spot Boudica go.

Did I consciousness relaxed? Sort of.

To me, it was much of a amusive acquisition than a calming one, but that successful itself tin person its benefits too.

Despite astir apt not being my "go-to" method of chilling retired aft work, I'm gladsome I gave it a try.

It was absorbing stepping retired of my comfortableness portion - I don't deliberation I'll beryllium spotting snake therapy connected my section leisure centre timetable immoderate clip soon.

Sue is for the astir portion retired from belly creation and snake massage, but she inactive offers a scope of snake-related activities.

To money her rehomed reptiles she offers a household circuit astir the sanctuary for £50

She besides offers workshops for those who are ophidiaphobic - frightened of snakes.

If you're frightened of snakes and request a spot of a spa day, Snake Massage mightiness adjacent termination 2 birds with 1 stone.

CAREER HISSTORY

Sue started retired arsenic a Go-go Dancer with a friend's band, but erstwhile she was expected to spell topless she opted retired and re-trained arsenic a belly dancer successful 1974.

Going by the signifier sanction Suzanne Patrice, she danced astatine parties, weddings, and different events wearing intricately designed location made costumes, arsenic they could scope up to £400 store-bought.

She’s been spotted dancing with assorted A-listers including Michael Crawford, known for British sitcom Some Mothers Do ‘Ave’ Em and his show The Phantom of the Opera.

In 1988, she made an quality successful bid 2 occurrence 3 of TV transgression thriller play Floodtide starring Philip Sayer.

Four years later, her spouse suggested they get a snake, Mamba, and she learned to incorporated the snake into her creation routine.

She past re-branded from Suzanne Patrice to Snakey Sue.

"He was gorgeous, Mamba.

"He utilized to whip his process astir my limb oregon astir my limb and each implicit my body.

"It was conscionable amazing, that was a large item of my life."

Since past Sue's been shimmying her mode done the tv similar a whirlwind!

She's spiced up Eastenders, Channel 4's Red Velvet, and adjacent slithered onto Sky Animal Planet's Animal Crackers.

Channel 5's The Wright Stuff, BBC's The One Show, and Bang Goes The Theory, and adjacent Britain's Got Talent.

While Sue has somewhat retired from her snake massage and belly dancing days, the Sanctuary is inactive unfastened for acquisition visits.

It costs £50 for up to 4 visitors 90mins and each proceeds spell to her saved serpents.

She besides has a donations page connected her website.

As snakes shed continuously shed their skin, Sue besides creates solid pendants holding existent snakeskin which she sells astatine the section shop.