Do you like to flirt or buy someone you fancy a drink? Then you’re a micro-cheat
IT’S not doing the dirty on your partner, really – or is it?
If you’ve rubbed suncream on someone you fancy, knowing your partner and theirs are not there or are looking the other way, you maybe know you are being a bit sneaky-cheeky.
But it’s just a bit of slap and no tickle, right? Nice and not naughty? Hmm.
Similarly, ever considered hopping on a lilo with that sexy somebody who is not your significant other, buying them a holiday cocktail or getting up close for a saucy joint selfie?
Welcome to the devious world of micro-cheating, where latest research suggests 84 PER CENT of supposedly coupled-up folk have come, well, just a teensy bit, briefly uncoupled.
Stag and hen
Called out for what it is, the term means flirting with someone while you’re spoken for — and hand on heart, a lot of us know we are bang to rights.
Or would be if our dearest knew — because nowhere is this subtle mischief more rife than on boozy, sunshine stag and hen holidays, where what goes on tour stays on tour.
Jessica Leoni at married people’s dating site illicitencounters.com, who did the latest survey, says: “Posing for photos, paying for a new friend’s drinks and inviting a group back to your villa all fit under the parasol of micro-cheating.
“Being far from home, away from prying eyes, can make people more confident and that translates into appearing more attractive to the opposite sex.”
Once a micro-cheat, always a micro-cheat, it seems, for the survey found 53 per cent of those who confessed had transgressed four or more times.
Yet 59 per cent reckoned it did not count as cheating.
Oh, and it is not confined to stag and hen fun — 47 per cent of offenders admitted being up to no good in everyday life.
But Jessica is a forgiving sort. She adds: “Stags and hens are an escape from stresses of normal life and, if things don’t progress to physical intimacy, this sort of behaviour shouldn’t bother partners back home.”
All good then — but a word to the wise, here is a charge sheet of ten top micro-cheats:
- The most common one: flirting.
- Inviting someone you fancy into your room, platonically.
- Buying a drink for that new friend you took a shine to.
- Posing for flirty photos with them.
- Following on Instagram someone you are attracted to.
- Buying a cheeky gift for that beauty who caught your eye.
- Sharing a lilo on hol with someone who’s not your usual squeeze.
- Buying dinner for a bit of a dish
- Inviting someone you find attractive to play holiday games.
- Getting busy with the suncream.