The Sun
MEET loving couple John and Claudia, who have been together for seven years — though during the past three, he has bedded more than 40 other women.
But she does not mind a bit, having had flings with more than 60 men herself in that time.
The pair are part of a growing movement called polyamory, in which couples allow each other full sexual freedom, while maintaining their love and respect for each other.
Polyamorous dating website openminded.com has 36,002 UK members out of 180,000 worldwide.
John and Claudia credit polyamory with keeping their relationship alive and are now planning to get married and have children.
They even say they would invite previous partners to the wedding.
John has often had two or three sexual partners on the go at once. But while Claudia has had more flings, she says not all of them went all the way. She adds that she enjoys the flirting and the kissing as much as a full sexual encounter.
John, 28, who runs a music studio, says: “My friends find it so hard to get their heads around it. They say, ‘You let Claudia sleep with other guys? Aren’t you jealous?’
“But allowing each other to have multiple sexual partners actually strengthens our relationship.”
Claudia, 24, an artist from Islington, North London, says: “John is the man I love but I am only human in that I still fancy other men.”
She continues: “We met when I went along to see his band playing. At the time I was only 16, and a student.
“We were instantly attracted, and we dated quite normally for four years.
“Then we were apart for a while as I was away at university and he was travelling with his band, and we both cheated on each other — bizarrely on the same day, as we later discovered.
“When we met up we confessed to each other and at first I thought it would mean the end of our relationship. But then when I examined my feelings, I realised I did not really mind or even feel jealous.
“I loved John, and I did not want us to split up. I thought about it, and suggested we stay together, but in a new model of a relationship.
“We’d both be free to see and sleep with other people, but at the same time maintain a close, loving relationship.
“I’ve been at parties where John is openly kissing another woman and my friends cannot believe I don’t mind. Likewise, John has seen me hitting on a good-looking guy, and he turns away and lets me get on with it, knowing we may well end up in bed.”
A support group called the Polyamory Society has come up with a definition of the lifestyle. It says: “Polyamory is the non-possessive, honest, responsible and ethical philosophy and practice of loving multiple people simultaneously. …