Spitzer Was Unknown to Her

Dupré claims she had no idea who the man was that night, recalling that he was a "polite" client who didn't want a lot of chit-chat. In fact, she didn't find out who he was until March when, just days after learning she was mixed up in some sort of FBI investigation, she saw the Spitzer apologizing on TV. "It was surreal," Dupré says of seeing the client she had met a month before. "I felt like I was sinking."

In the interview, Dupré also opens up about her troubled past - running away at age 17 into a non-stop life of drinking and partying - and how a girl from the suburbs could fathom becoming a prostitute: "This wasn't any different than going on a date with someone you barely knew and hooking up with them," she reasoned. "The only difference is I can pay my rent."

Now living with her parents in New Jersey, Dupré says she has learned her lesson, and then some. And while continuing to pursue her music career, she won't be selling her body to make ends meet. "No," she says. "Never again."

For more from Ashley Dupré's very first interview - including details about her night with Spitzer, her earlier attempts to quit the escort business and her reaction when she sees Spitzer's wife - pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday