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'I was treated more like a dog.' What it's really like to be a nanny for millionaires.

Life as an A-list nanny may sound glamorous, but one Russian-born nanny is spilling all her “horror stories” ahead of a tell-all book, Millionaire Nanny.

In an article for the New York PostElena Mincheva shared what it was really like to look after super-rich kids.

The 35-year-old told journalist Jane Ridley she worked in Chicago for a “perfect” family with an entrepreneur father and a former model mother.

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Mincheva, who was new to the US, says she worked 16-hour days caring for three children –  Isabella, 8, Cameron, 7, and four-year-old Jack*.

When she did clock off, she slept in the basement of the six-bedroom home.

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“As the weeks went by, I was treated more like a dog than a nanny,” she told Ridley.

“Throughout my 16-hour day, I was constantly on my feet…I was cleaning, cooking, shopping, running errands or doing laundry. I had no breaks and was entitled to just one Sunday off every two weeks.”

The nanny said the wealthy parents “hardly spent any time” with their children and were “too busy or preoccupied to pay them attention”.

“The Lady’s solution to everything was to order stuff from Amazon, ” said Mincheva.

“There was a delivery of $300 worth of toys almost every day. It was usually Lego sets for the boys and countless dolls’ shoes for Isabella.”

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Despite wanting to show the children love, the nanny said she had to resign after 10 months of working for the family.

The 35-year-old says she is now working for “nice” hardworking middle-and upper-middle-class people.

“The message I’ve learned through my experience is that every child needs and deserves love over money and any materialistic things,” she said.

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“It’s not an easy gig.”

Nanny recruiter Chontelle Bonfiglio, from Nanny & Butler, told Mamamia that the job of an A-list nanny is not easy.

“Parents usually have extremely high expectations, but these nannies get to experience the glamorous lifestyles of the rich and famous, while getting paid to do so,” she said.

The overseas team manager said she had a list of “outrageous requests” from wealthy families.

“There are families asking for the near impossible. For example, one family requested a nanny with a teaching degree who speaks Chinese and who is also willing to also do housekeeping and walk the dogs. No qualified teacher is going to pick up dog poop,” she said.

Another family requested a nanny that had specific skills for a six-year-old’s daily styling.

“The nanny had to be familiar with specific products that they use, all biological, no chemicals. She had to follow a specific routine which included massages, facials, pedicures, manicures,” she said.

“She herself also had to be always well groomed.”

*Names have been changed.

Feature image: Instagram.