A model claims she has auctioned her virginity for nearly $3million (£2.2million) - and says it is a 'dream come true' for her.

Giselle, 19, who is based in the US, says she decided to sell her virginity through the notorious German-based website Cinderella Escorts.

The agency claims the highest bidder was a businessman from Abu Dhabi, with a bid of 2.5m Euros ($2.9m/£2.2m), while a Hollywood actor was said to have made the second highest bid of 2.4m Euros ($2.8m/£2.1m).

Giselle says she will use the money to pay for her college fees, buy a new house, and go traveling around the world.

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Giselle, 19, who is based in the US, claims she has sold her virginity for 2.5m Euros ($2.9m/£2.2m) through the notorious website Cinderella Escorts

The model said: 'I am happy to have decided to sell my virginity through Cinderella Escorts.

'I would never have dreamt that the bid would rise so high and we would have reached 2.5million Euros. This is a dream come true.'

Giselle said she was 'shocked' by the outrage against women selling her virginity, describing it as a 'form of emancipation.'

'If I want to spend my first time with someone who is not my first love, that's my decision,' she said.

'The fact that women can do what they want with their bodies and have the courage to live their sexuality free against the critics sets a sign for emancipation'.

She added: 'In retrospect, how many would probably give up their first time if they could have 2.5million Euros instead?'

The model says she will use the money to pay for her college fees, buy a new house, and to travel around the world

Giselle said she had planned to sell her virginity before finding out about Cinderella Escorts, but decided it was safer to work with an agency.

The agency rose to worldwide fame after the auction in 2016 of Aleexandra Khefren, a 18-year-old Romanian model who sold her virginity for 2.3 million euros (£2 million) to an unnamed businessman from Hong Kong.

Twenty percent of each auction goes as a fee to Cinderella Escorts, according to local media.

The man behind Germany's most famous escort website is 27-year-old Jan Zakobielski, who runs the business from Dortmund, and likens a woman's virginity to a 'very old wine' or a 'luxury car'.

A spokesman for Cinderella Escorts said: 'On our website you will find a video where girls from all over the world talk about the reasons to sell their virginity.

'[T]he high bidding for Giselle's auction shows us how high the demand for virgins is. Business people from all over the world have been bidding.'