Alix Earle's Stepmom Ashley Earle Opens Up About Eliot Spitzer, FBI Scandal

Alix Earle's stepmom is opening up about her involvement in the scandal surrounding former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer's resignation.

Ashley Earle -- who went by Ashley Dupre -- got into the nitty-gritty of her escort days in a new piece for Elle.

She wrote ... "At 19, while working as a cocktail waitress, a man approached me and told me I could make $1,000 an hour going on dates with high-profile men. My first answer was no, but I kept his card."

Ashley says she eventually gave the man a call, explaining she wanted money and independence.

She said she spent 2 years as an escort without anyone in her life knowing when the FBI tracked her down and showed her a photograph of Spitzer -- who was her client.

Ashley wrote ... "I didn't know who he was. When they told me he was the governor of New York, I couldn't begin to understand what was about to happen."

She said it wasn't long before her stage name and face were in the tabloids, writing ... "I had come to New York City wanting to be noticed, and suddenly everyone noticed me -- for the one thing I never wanted anyone to know."

Ashley says that for a while she wanted to clarify her identity and how she was perceived by giving the public context, but has since changed her tune.

She says ... "Context isn't absolution. I made choices. Some were reckless. Some were selfish. They had consequences. I can own all of that without believing those choices have to be the most interesting thing about me forever."

Ashley went on to explain that Alix's dad, TJ, was married when they met just a few months later, and that they "crossed a line we shouldn't have crossed."

She owned up to hurting Alix, her sister Ashtin, and their mom, Alisa ... but justified it by saying her life with TJ is "deeply meaningful."