Feet have always seemed to me a strange thing to worship. They’re one of the hardest-working bits of the body, often sweaty and afflicted with all the signs of daily wear and tear. I had a flatmate once whose feet were so smelly, your nose told you whether or not he was home within two seconds of opening the front door. Although I was in a single - and - desperately - horny phase, and he was the spitting image of Jude Law, with a tendancy to wander around the flat half-naked, I just couldn’t fancy him because of the smell. Those feet were totally not sexy. But I guess it’s not men’s feet that are worshipped, it’s women’s – in all their potentially soft-skinned painted-nailed glory. I was in a sex shop the other day and saw a foot-shaped mastabator toy for men, and according to the girl behind the till they sell well.

Even among men who wouldn’t say they have any kind of foot fetish, feet and footwear can provoke strong reactions. Working as a pub stripper, I get feedback all the time from guys on what they like and don’t like in terms of costumes. Generally they agree on most things – the majority love uniforms (kinky nurse, secretary, policewoman etc.), elegant long dresses, and the classic full-stockings-and-suspenders. A look on which they are divided however is the rock chick or dominatrix – and the main reason for this lies below the crotch.

Long black shiny thigh-high PVC boots – they absolutely love ‘em or totally hate ‘em. For every guy who says in a shaky voice, “I love your boots, can I have a private dance?” there’s another who says “I’ll have a dance with you, but only if you take those terrible boots off”. It’s the footwear which they have the most specific opinions on.

At Sunset Strip in Soho - where the stage is at knee height two inches from the front-row audience, so a good place for foot-watching - there’s a regular customer who generously tips girls who dance barefoot. Very few girls dance without shoes regularly, although I’m one of those who often does, but when he’s in the audience, it’s amazing how many barefoot beauties suddenly appear.

Of course there are specific foot worship clubs. I was once asked to work at one of them – the deal was I’d get paid to go to dinner with several other girls where we’d sit around a large table eating, drinking and chatting, while below the table, foot worshippers attended to our feet. They would not be allowed to touch us above the knee. Having very tickilish feet and a reflex reaction of kicking hard whenever they are touched I decided this wasn’t a good idea.

I hadn’t seen any do this particularly convincingly until I watched Toe Treats this week, which bows down and truly worships feet and features performers who seem genuinely into it. It was so erotic, I’ve decided maybe I need to overcome my ticklishness and submit to a foot massage.