Illicit love: How one in five adults are in love with someone other than their partner
Living happily ever after is not all it’s cracked up to be. One in five of us settled with a spouse is actually in love with someone else, a survey has found.
That means just under five million either married or living with a partner could have romantic longings for a third party.
And the man or woman of their dreams is likely to be a work colleague or among their circle of close friends.
These less than romantic statistics emerged in a poll of 3,000 people which, not surprisingly, also found one in four not entirely happy in their current relationship.
Surprising statistics show that one in five adults is in love with someone other than their partner
Even those who were completely content with their other half did not escape unscathed.
Just over 50 per cent of these admitted to sometimes having feelings for someone else.
One in six of those who do fall for another will follow their hearts and embark on an affair.
But better news for the long-suffering partners of those with a wandering eye is that this usually happens only once during a relationship.
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‘The research shows just how many people believe that it’s possible to hold feelings for more than one person,’ said a spokesman for the polling firm that carried out the survey.
‘Even in a happy relationship, it seems to be possible to have a wandering eye or even crave affection from another person.
‘Yet for many people, the feelings are much stronger - with 20 per cent saying they are actually in love with another person despite being in a loving relationship already.
‘For those who can’t control their lust, this usually leads to an affair and potentially the start of a marriage or relationship breakdown.’
The study also found feelings for someone else usually last for an average of three years and three months.
As well as colleagues and friends, ex-boyfriends or girlfriends feature highly on the list of potentially dangerous love interests.
One in 25 people questioned said they had been in love with someone else for more than five years and one in 50 said they had loved another for as long as they could remember.
Men are far more likely to fall for someone else, with 22 per cent declaring they loved two women.
Only 15 per cent of women found themselves in a similar predicament. And 29 per cent of men said they planned to leave their partner for the other women compared to just 19 per cent of women.
A spokesman from www.OnePoll.com said: ‘Men have a bad reputation when it comes to eyeing up other women and the research proves this is actually true.
‘Men are much more likely to “window shop” whilst in a loving relationship as well as falling for another women.
‘And the study shows chaps are more likely to stray too - with almost a third planning on leaving their partner for another woman.’
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