text: The founder of Bikram yoga, who has been accused of sexually assaulting multiple students, has said women love him so much he wouldn't need to rape them to get sex. Speaking out for the first time since six women filed civil lawsuits accusing him of unwanted sexual advances, 69-year-old Bikram Choudhury strongly denied the accusations. 'I never assaulted them,' he said as he spoke to CNN. 'The answer is I feel sorry for them... They're entranced by somebody - lawyers.' Choudhury, who pioneered the practice of working out in a room heated to 105F, has his name attached to 720 yoga schools in 220 countries. Chelsea Clinton, Madonna and Demi Moore are among his followers. Scroll down for video . Denial: Bikram Choudhury, who has been accused of sexual advances by six separate women, has denied the allegations in an interview with CNN - the first time he has spoken out about the accusations . Choudhury told CNN that his success means he would never need to assault anyone. 'Women likes me. Women loves me,' he said. 'So if I really wanted to involve the women, I don't have to assault the women.' When asked how his wife of more than 30 years, fellow yoga instructor Rajashree Choudhury, had responded to the accusations, Choudhury became emotional. 'My wife never look at me anymore,' he said. 'Twenty-four hours a day, I work harder than any human being in this Earth... and this is my reward? I'm a rapist? Shame [on] your Western culture.' 'Targeted': Sarah Baughn, pictured speaking to CNN, said Choudhury told her they should be together and that she needed to have sex with him if she wanted to advance her career. She no longer practises . At work: He pioneered Bikram yoga, in which followers practice 26 yoga moves in temperatures of 105F . Bikram yoga,  devised by Bikram Choudhury, is based on regular hatha yoga, but performed in 105F temperatures for 90 minutes. Fans claim that it not only leaves them stronger and more flexible than standard yoga, it also helps them shed weight quickly. Choudhury began practising yoga in Calcutta at the age of three, spending up to six hours a day perfecting his poses. At 13 he won the National India Yoga Championship and went on to devise the 26 'asanas' (poses) and two breathing methods that form the core of Bikram yoga. He claims to have been invited to the U.S. in 1973 by President Richard Nixon to help him improve his health through yoga. After moving to Los Angeles, he started teaching Shirley MacLaine, whom he credits with spreading his name. He also claims to have taught yoga to Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton and has a legion of celebrity fans . including Lady Gaga, Madonna, Jennifer Aniston and tennis champion Andy . Murray. Choudhury says Bikram works because the  heat loosens the muscles, helping them to go further than they would otherwise. Since 2013, six women have stepped forward to accuse him of unwanted sexual advances, and studios have started to drop his name, signalling that his empire is crumbling. Sarah Baughn, one of his accusers, told CNN that Bikram yoga was 'life changing' and as soon as she took part, she knew she wanted to teach the practice. But when she joined Bikram's teacher training course in the mid-2000s, he quickly targeted her, she claimed. 'I was asked by him to come into his office and he sat down,' she said. 'And immediately went into, "What should we do about this? What should we do about us? We need a relationship".' She was shocked - 'I felt like my whole system just sort of imploded' - and was advised by another staff member to avoid being alone with him. But on another night, he cornered her after the group watched a movie together, she said. 'He crawled on top of me,' she said. 'He put his hand on the inside of my thigh and the other hand he wrapped around me, and he was holding me there.' He told her that he needed someone to massage him, brush his hair and have sex with him, she said - and made it clear that she would only advance in her career if she slept with him. 'Struggle': He said his wife, Rajashree Choudhury, no longer looks at him because of the accusations . Emotional: When asked about his wife's reaction, Choudhury became emotional and questioned why he was being accused of sexual assaults after working so hard. 'Shame on your Western culture,' he said . 'I looked him in the eyes and pushed him off of me and I said, "I can do this by myself",' she said. 'And he said, "No you can't, there's no way". I got up and I left the room.' Baughn has previously likened the atmosphere in the Bikram community to a cult and said she had endured Choudhury's sexual assaults as just something that went with the territory. Others told her to separate the man from the teacher, she said. Baughn's lawsuit is scheduled for trial in August. She no longer practices yoga. Most recently, a Canadian woman, Jill Lawler, filed a civil case against him on February 13, alleging that he raped her during a nine-week class when she was just 18. In her suit, Lawler said she went into the class elated to learn from the master, but things quickly soured as she was expected to massage him while watching Bollywood movies late into the night. As they watched the films, he groped her, she said. He apologized but weeks later, he asked Lawler to come to his hotel room where he sexually assaulted her, it is claimed. Accusers: Larissa Anderson, left, and Jill Lawler, right, have both filed civil lawsuits against Choudhury . 'Throughout the sexual abuse, defendant Bikram Choudhury offered multiple explanations and justifications for his behavior,' her lawsuit said. 'He would say "I'm dying, I need to you to save me. If I don't have sex I will die. You are saving my life, you are helping me".' The lawsuit states that Lawler continued doing Bikram yoga for years and that Choudhury's abuse continued on multiple occasions, the most recent being in February 2013. At the time, Choudhury's lawyers  and his Yoga College of India said he never sexually assaulted any of the women and that prosecutors declined to bring charges. The Los Angeles district attorney declined to bring charges in a case against Choudhury in 2013 for lack of evidence, spokesman Ricardo Santiago said. See below for video .
target: Bikram Choudhury pioneered 'Bikram yoga' - practicing yoga in a room heated to 105F - and has a huge following, including celebrities .
  He has been accused of unwanted sexual advances in six civil lawsuits .
  Speaking out about the accusations for the first time, he has denied ever assaulting the women and said he feels sorry for them .
  He became emotional when asked how his wife of 30 years has reacted to the claims, saying: 'She never looks at me anymore'