EXCLUSIVE: How a high school dropout from Connecticut quarry town became a beauty queen and then wife of ultra-rich spinal surgeon - until it all crumbled when he discovered she was an alleged high-end hooker on the side

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Regina Turner was a high school dropout who grew up in an untidy three-bedroom home on a busy main street in a middle-class Connecticut quarry town.

She planned to follow in the health-care footsteps of her parents, by becoming a dental assistant, or maybe even a dentist.

But after winning a beauty pageant, Turner's modest dreams were suddenly eclipsed when a world-renowned, multi-millionaire spinal surgeon whisked her off her feet, married her and introduced her to a life of unimaginable luxury.

And a decade after quitting school in her sophomore year, she had managed to get it all, living with her new husband Dr. Han Jo Kim in a magnificent Upper East Side apartment with panoramic views over Manhattan.

If that weren't enough, she and Kim could while away their summers in a $2.6 million vacation home set on more than an acre of land overlooking the Long Island Sound. They took no-expense-spared vacations to Greece, Spain and France.

But now Turner's meteoric rise in fortune is over after Kim sensationally divorced her, claiming in divorce papers she worked as a high-end hooker before and throughout their 5½-year marriage.

Manhattan spinal surgeon Dr. Han Jo Kim, 41,  divorced his beauty queen wife Regina Turner, 32, (pictured together) after claiming he discovered she was a high-end hooker 

DailyMail.com can reveal Regina Turner was a high school dropout who grew up in an untidy three-bedroom home on a busy main street in a middle-class Connecticut quarry town. Her family home (pictured) has seen better days. Small saplings grow from the foundations around the door and mildew covers the clapboard

Millionaire surgeon Dr. Kim said he never would have married former Miss Connecticut Regina Turner had he known of her past. The couple are pictured on their wedding day in 2015

In a 264-page court filing in New York, Dr. Han Jo Kim claimed he found out about his wife's secret double life after he found a raunchy iMessage to her on a computer.

In a 264-page court filing in New York, Dr. Han Jo Kim claimed he found out about his wife's secret double life after he found a raunchy iMessage to her on a computer 

When he dug deeper, Kim found she had made nearly $700,000 from her work in the oldest profession, going off to China for weeks at a time, supposedly because she was developing a clothing app.

'In fact such travel was in connection with defendant's provision of sexual services in exchange for money,' her husband said in his court filing.

'Not to belabor the obvious but ... defendant clearly committed material fraud upon Dr. Kim by concealing her sale of sexual services in exchange for money prior to the marriage,' the doctor said.

'As is further obvious, plaintiff would have never married defendant absent her lies and concealment.

'It remains inconceivable to plaintiff that given his substantial earnings as a spine surgeon, and his enormous generosity to defendant, that defendant continued to sell sex for money during the marriage,' he continued.

The couple settled their divorce confidentially last week, one day after Kim's allegations about his wife were made public. He had wanted an annulment on grounds of fraud.

Regina Turner, 32, grew up in Portland — a small eastern Connecticut town whose quarries provided much of the material for New York's famed brownstone townhouses.

Her family home has seen better days. Small saplings grow from the foundations around the door and mildew covers the clapboard.

Her younger sister Iseabal told DailyMail.com that Regina was 'unavailable' before firmly shutting the door.

Regina's younger sister Iseabal (pictured) told DailyMail.com that Regina was 'unavailable' before firmly shutting the door

Regina stands out among the many awkward teens in Portland High School yearbook pictures in her freshman and sophomore years, with her confident beaming smile and long dark ha

Regina stands out among the many awkward teens in Portland High School yearbook pictures in her freshman and sophomore years, with her confident beaming smile and long dark hair.

When he dug deeper, Kim found she had made nearly $700,000 from her work in the oldest profession, going off to China for weeks at a time, supposedly because she was developing a clothing app

'She was beautiful even then,' one classmate told DailyMail.com. 'As you can imagine she was the one that all the boys wanted to date.

'I sure had a crush on her. I think every boy in Portland did.'

But there is no mention of Turner in the yearbooks in what should have been her upperclassman years of 2007 and 2008, supporting Kim's court claims that she never graduated high school.

Kim, 41, claimed his wife had told him she had taken a leave of absence from the University of Connecticut — where she was three years into a science major — after winning the Miss Connecticut USA title in 2011.

In fact, she went to the somewhat less prestigious Tunxis Community College in Farmington.

She struggled for money. Records show she was twice sued for non-payment of rent on an apartment on New York City's Mott Street. One was for $10,185 and the second for $13,845.

But Regina Turner's life changed when she won her state's beauty pageant, putting her into the Donald Trump-run Miss USA pageant.

Kim, 41, claimed his wife had told him she had taken a leave of absence from the University of Connecticut — where she was three years into a science major — after winning the Miss Connecticut USA title in 2011. But DailyMail.com has learned she was a high school dropout

Regina's life changed when she won her state's beauty pageant, putting her into the Donald Trump-run Miss USA pageant

At the time, she told the Middletown Press she was confident of lifting the national title.

'Whenever I decide to do something, I go all in,' she said. 'I truthfully expect to win. I do it well, and I do it the right way. I put all my heart into it, and I always try my best.'

'I hope this title will help me with school, as well as furthering my hobbies of modeling and acting,' Turner added. 'Possibly, I can turn those hobbies into a second career.'

But according to Kim, her second career was much seedier. Three prominent men — a New Jersey real estate executive, an award-winning lighting designer and a businessman — were all regular clients, he said.

According to her bank records, which Kim subpoenaed, the real estate executive wrote out several $2,000 checks for cash that ended up in Turner's account. The lighting designer's company wired her a total of $116,000 over six years, much of it in payments of $10,000 each.

Financial records from Turner's account showed cash deposits of $675,030 between 2015 and 2021, even though she claimed she earned nothing and was 'totally dependent on' Kim.

Kim's work straightening backs earned him $3.2 million in 2018. His luxurious weekend home is in Greenport, on the North Fork of Long Island (pictured)  

Kim had arrived at the house, a three-hour drive from his Manhattan apartment, shortly after noon on Friday. He had driven there in his $200,000 black convertible Aston Martin DB11 Volante

Kim's work straightening backs earned him $3.2 million in 2018. He has a champagne lifestyle — a crate of Veuve Clicquot was just inside the front door of his luxurious weekend home in Greenport, on the North Fork of Long Island, when DailyMail.com knocked.

Kim had arrived at the house, a three-hour drive from his Manhattan apartment, shortly after noon on Friday. He had driven there in his $200,000 black convertible Aston Martin DB11 Volante — top speed 192 mph.

He refused to comment to DailyMail.com. 'You've got to get off my property right now,' he said before going back inside the house he bought in 2018.

Kim wins plaudits for being a genius as a back surgeon at New York's Hospital for Special Surgery, although many online reviews fault his bedside manner.

His online profile says he specializes in cervical spine and scoliosis surgery. He is the Director of the Spine Fellowship and has won 'multiple awards in the national and international arena.'

'Dr. Kim believes in a comprehensive approach to patient care,' the profile reads. 'With individual patient goals in mind, if surgery is necessary, he will perform spine surgery utilizing the most effective and safe techniques tailored for each person in an effort to minimize complications, recovery time and optimize outcomes.'