And while many of us were aghast at the idea of spending $80,000 on sex (hell-o! That's a new car! Or a couple of years worth of mortgage payments!), others believed sex with a prostitute to be more palatable than an ordinary affair.

A recent Lavalife poll of more than 6,000 daters revealed that 61 per cent thought an affair was worse than a prostitute. In fact, only 34 per cent of men and 43 per cent of women thought sleeping with a prostitute was worse.

Why?

Lucia, host of the Los Angeles-based TV talk show, The Art of Love believes having an affair, whether physical or emotional, is worse than seeing a prostitute. She says, "Seeing a prostitute is a business transaction -- pay for play. No feelings involved. However, an affair, especially an emotional one means it's more than just sex. There are feelings involved."

Lucia says, "Men can separate sex from love, while most women can't. Look at it this way: Would you rather your partner have sex with you and be thinking of someone else or have sex with someone else and be thinking of you? It's not about the physical act but where the person's heart lies."

Alan, a publicist, agrees. "I definitely think that an affair is worse. Seeing a hooker is just a one-time thing, like a business transaction -- only it involves sex. There's no emotion involved. That's my take."

But what about a prostitute's repeat customers, like Spitzer, a customer so loyal that he'd earned the obviously affectionate moniker, "Client number 9?" Is it still a business transaction? Closer to an affair? Or somewhere in the middle?

Alan says, "I think it's still business. You have a favorite restaurant that you frequent? You like the restaurant, the food, the atmosphere. But is there a relationship between you and the restaurant? I don't think so."

Abby, a dater, disagrees. "Prostitution is much worse, if only for the risk of dangerous diseases. A personal, emotional affair, on the other hand, can actually be a healing experience, allowing a frustrated person to re-evaluate how the grass isn't always greener on the other side of the hill."

Jenny Gardiner, author of Sleeping with Ward Cleaver says, "Both are deal-breakers for me. An affair is a huge betrayal of trust, and once trust is broken it's irrevocable. Sleeping with a prostitute is a huge betrayal of physical safety, which to me demonstrates incredible selfishness on the part of the partner.

"Either way the person has severed the trust that must come with a relationship or marriage. Personally I'd kill my husband for either betrayal -- I'm not that forgiving!"

Elizabeth, a former sex industry worker, disagrees.

She says, "In fairness to pros, it's actually quite common knowledge that most working girls -- particularly those at the level of Spitzer's favorite, Ashley Dupre a.k.a. "Kristen" -- are meticulous about safer sex. True, one might be taking a risk with a crack addicted girl on the street, but when talking about higher levels of sex work it could be argued and has been by many, that one is probably safer going to a pro with a sophisticated knowledge of safer sex practices than to say, Molly in accounts payable."

Although Molly in accounts payable might (or might not) be a more likely carrier of crabs or HIV, sleeping with her probably isn't going to get your mug shot on the 7 o'clock news, or provide an up-close introduction to the wonderful world of pimps.