'People are calling me a sex pervert': Spectator writer who said Cambridge lecturer was so attractive that he had to visit a prostitute hits back at critics telling them to 'get out of the basement and get a bit of action, even if you have to pay'

A theatre writer who was condemned online after claiming a lecture by a female academic inspired a sleazy trip to a message parlour has defiantly told his critics to 'get out the basement and get a bit of action'.

Lloyd Evans sparked outrage when he revealed in The Spectator he visited a Chinese prostitute after becoming distracted by the appearance of political theory expert Lea Ypi at a talk in Cambridge.

The 61-year-old claimed he had lost control of his 'lunatic libido' after seeing the London School of Economics professor's 'blonde hair spilling over her shoulders', before going on to sleep with a Chinese prostitute.

The article sparked an angry response from the Albanian-born professor, as well as others on social media who called it 'horrific', 'crude' and 'appalling'.

However, Evans has hit back at his critics, saying he has been branded a 'sex pervert' by complete strangers and insisted they should 'get out of the basement and get a bit of action, even if you have to pay for it'.

Evans said he had been inspired to include Prof Ypi in the article because 'I just find clever and articulate women very attractive and she was physically attractive and that made me feel a bit lonely and then I ended up in a sauna bath'.

He told The Telegraph he was trying to expose the polar opposites of 'intellectual high-flying political philosophy and a sexual encounter', adding that he found the latter 'much more satisfying and enjoyable'.

He added that Prof Ypi was 'really funny and sharp and witty' and that this induced feelings of longing towards her.

Evans said the reaction to his article was 'a bit unfortunate' and that people were now calling him a 'sex pervert' online despite only reading about his love life in The Spectator.

'Well my message to him is get out of the basement and get a bit of action, even if you have to pay for it,' he told The Telegraph.

He added that he was 'not pleading for sympathy' as his critics 'tend to be people who aren't men and who haven't actually been in that situation'.

Professor Ypi, an expert in political theory who has degrees in philosophy and literature, and previously lectured at Nuffield College, Oxford, hit out at the piece on social media. 

She wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: 'Advice for scholars. Next time you lecture on Kant and revolutions at 'Downing (@DarwinCollege) Cambridge, make sure your hair is neatly tied and that you're not blonde.

'Or else your research impact will be on the @spectator libido section.'

In the article, which was headlined My (surprisingly) decent proposal, Evans - who is a sketch-writer for The Spectator - began by saying men feel like 'being chained to a lunatic' in relation to their libido.

He wrote how he had dropped into 'Downing College' for a lecture given by Prof Ypi - the talk actually took place at Darwin College - but son became distracted by her appearance.

 'Her blonde hair spilling over her shoulders absorbed far more of my attention than her political reflections,' he wrote.

'I was desperate to speak to her afterwards, but I had no way to orchestrate a meeting.'

Evans, who has written for The Spectator since the 1980s, then described going to an 'already arranged... social rendezvous at a private business location'.

He explained 'how it works' - handing 'over a roll of banknotes to a concierge at a desk who ushers you into a softly lit room where your companion awaits you'.

Evans said he met a woman called Shea, who was 'petite' and 'buxom'. He added that she 'looked Chinese rather than Irish but you never know these day so I asked her which part of Ireland she came from. "Shanghai," she told me'.

She is said to have 'rubbed hot wax' onto his shoulders before ordering him to 'flip onto my back as she dimmed the lights and raised one eyebrow at me suggestively'.

He then talks about 'negotiations' before describing at length how he paid for the 'brisk workout' with the woman who he said 'had a crooked smile which I find far more attractive than those ultra-white Hollywood teeth that look like pieces of Lego'.

While he doesn't go into detail about what they did, he remarks that afterwards she compliment 'my sorry-looking boots rather than my lean and toned physique'.

He added that she left her 'pale tummy exposed' and when she called herself fat he 'sprang instantly to reassure her' before 'smoothing my palm ­tenderly across her stomach'.

Evans wrote that as the pair 'padded about, tugging out clothes back on' even though they had known each for less than 20 minutes there was an 'air of ease and familiarity' about their small talk.

He then revealed he went left and returned later on with his laptop so he could send her money for the encounter, claiming he 'gallantly' gave her more money that she had initially quoted.

His article sparked condemnation from academics and commentators, with Prof Ypi's furious response attracting more than 3,600 likes, 600 reposts, 400 comments and 316 bookmarks from stunned mostly-female followers.

Darwin College commented: 'Absolutely appalled to see this Lea. Your fascinating, beautifully crafted lecture was a hugely appreciated highlight of the college's cultural year.

'We hope your memory of the event won't be tainted by an audience member using it to write something so crude and offensive.'

Naomi Waltham-Smith called Evans' piece 'utterly depressing and pathetic, yet deeply unpleasant.'

Historian Helene von Bismark added: 'This is awful, unacceptable, misogynistic trash'.

Professor Ben Ansell, an Oxford lecturer, called it 'dismal, embarrassing, chauvinist rubbish', while Professor Linda Connolly, said simply: 'Ugh!'

Micah G Allen, a professor of psychiatry based in Denmark, added: 'This is so disgusting, I'm sorry you were subjected to this. What women in academia go through is a disgrace.'

A Mrs Dayglo said: 'I'm so sorry you have someone like that perving over you. And that he got paid for writing that.'

Fellow academic Colin Wight added: 'Just such a weird piece to write. I can't see the point of it.'

Doctor Charlotte Lydia Riley, a historian, added: 'This is horrific. I'm so sorry.'

Others remarked on not just the comments about Prof Ypi, but also about Evans description of his encounter at the massage parlour.

Feminist columnist Hadley Freeman wrote: 'Re that revolting Spectator ­article people are rightly outraged by the one-handed writer's comments about the academic. But it's how he writes about the 'brisk workout' with the sex worker (who could well be trafficked) that enraged me. Paying for sex is abusive and unforgivable.'

The writer Julie Bindel was equally forthright: 'What a disgusting man Lloyd Evans is. He should be sent to an island inhabited only by crocodiles.' 

Evans told the Mail's Richard Kay last night that he was bewildered by the reaction to his piece. 

'No, I didn't anticipate it,' he said.

Evans, who has been writing for The Spectator since the 1980s, is no stranger to sexual shenanigans. 

He has previously visited the same subject in other Spectator columns, writing in January how about a 'petite buxom ­figure' who 'vaulted on top of me, straddling my thighs' as she gave him a vigorous Thai massage.

In the early 2000s the magazine was nicknamed the 'Sextator', such were the stories of intrigue, infidelity and casual affairs - involving various ­members of staff and a Cabinet minister - under the then ­editorship of Boris Johnson.

It provided material for a laugh-out-loud farce called Who's The Daddy? staged in a London theatre and written by Evans himself.

Last night Evans's collaborator on the play and fellow Spectator columnist Toby Young said: 'I am looking forward to this scandal blowing up out of all proportion and then going to see Lloyd's very amusing play about the whole affair.'