TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – How long can sugar stay sweet before it starts to go sour?

For young college coeds, life can be super sweet as a sugar baby. No bills, no debt, no worries. Young women are signing up in droves, for free, on a website called seekingarrangement.com. It’s wildly popular and unites sugar babies with sugar daddies.

Wealthy men pay large sums of money and go through background checks to list their profiles, so that younger, beautiful, college coeds can provide companionship. In fact, it’s so popular in Tampa Bay, the University of South Florida is ranked number 12 in the country for sugar babies.

What price is truly being paid for the so-called sweet life?

8 On Your Side spoke with a sugar baby firsthand, and she dished on all the details.

The USF graduate has her entire education, all $100,000 of it, paid for completely.  She is now in nursing school, and when she’s done, she has her sights set on a master’s degree.

“If a guy wants to talk to you and you’re going to benefit from it, you should go ahead and do it. No reason why you shouldn’t,” she said.  But, the story of this sugar baby comes with a secret.

Her real name is not Jenny.

Her parents have no idea who paid all the bills during college.  Her friend encouraged her to sign up to become a sugar baby.  When Jenny signed up, she got a lot of attention. Before she knew it, dozens of wealthy, older men were contacting her. In the end, she met a 55-year-old global business man.

“I mean, he was a nice guy, but I wasn’t attracted to him in that manner. He and, I knew what it was when I was coming into it, so I didn’t want lines crossed.”

So, what’s the shelf life on luxury living where sugar daddies foot the bills and sugar babies bag the benefits?  Is this a dangerous territory where deep pockets can do damage?

“You’re on call for somebody else,” Dr. Dae Sheridan, a USF Professor and board-certified clinical sexologist.

The sugar life, she said, comes with consequences and can leave scars behind.

“So, I think it’s going to be very difficult for somebody to say this is an equitable relationship. It’s give and take. No, you’re on call and you’re going to be the one. There’s an expectation for you to provide that service when that person is paying you for the service is asking for it,” she told 8 On Your Side.

In fact, according to Dr. Sheridan, these college coeds may love the quick cash, but the young ladies lose self-esteem and self-worth in the long run.  Choosing economics over emotion is never simple, she points out.

“I do think there’s going to be an emotional toll taken on this, because it’s a secret.”

Dr. Sheridan says a secret based in sugar gets rotten in a hurry, since the relationship is often hush-hush.

8 on your Side talked with one young lady from Florida State who learned her sugar daddy was married with children.

“It’s a secret .So, how long do you participate in something that you can’t tell your family about or that you’re not proud of? That chips away at you.”

The website promotes the relationships between sugar daddies and sugar babies as mutually beneficial and currently has thousands of members.WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON RIGHT NOW

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