Veteran actor James Lipton has no regrets about his past in the sex trade after stunning fans by recently confessing to running a brothel in Paris, France.

The host of America's long-running Tv talk show Inside The Actors Studio opened up about his experiences to Parade.com earlier this week (begs27May13), revealing he used to represent prostitutes as a way of earning cash after being set up in the business by a hooker pal named Regine following World War Two.

He said, "I represented them all... I did a roaring business, and I was able to live for a year. That's how I lived. I was going through my rites of passage, no question about it. It was a great year of my life."

Lipton's comments came as a shock to many devotees, but, during an interview on U.S. Tv show CBS This Morning on Thursday (30May13), he insisted he is "not ashamed" of his seedy background - although he doesn't like to be referred to as a pimp.

He said, "A pimp exploits and abuses the women who work for him... (Regine) was my friend. I was of help to her. And we had some amazing adventures."