Third of Doncaster women cheat in revenge if their partner strays, new survey says

Slightly fewer men (26%) also 'revenge cheat' to get their own back from an earlier betrayal.

The vast majority of revenge cheaters (82%) said they felt justified in having an affair because their partner erred first.

More men (54%) than women (48%) are likely to own up to a revenge affair to show their partner the error of their ways.

The most common way that people revenge cheat is through meeting a new partner on a dating website or app, chosen by 42% of respondents, followed sleeping with a former lover or friend (28%), contact through social media (12%), a work romance (10%) and a pick-up at a bar or club (8%).

There has been a 12% rise in revenge cheating since the end of lockdown as the new freedoms sparking a surge in affairs.

The results are revealed in a new survey from IllicitEncounters.com, the UK's leading affairs site.

Being caught did not stop 44% of cheats from carrying on seeing a lover, despite telling their partner the affair was over.

The survey found that less than a quarter of people (23%) end their relationship after discovering an affair.

Far more (30%) stay with their partner and then get their revenge by having an affair of their own.

The survey found that a third of couples (32%) used lockdown to make a fresh start while stuck at home together for 18 months.

That involved confessing to a past fling for 13% of women and 10% of men.

IllicitiEncounters.com sex and relationship expert Jessica Leoni said: "Revenge cheating has never been more popular in Doncaster.

"More people are taking the view: don't get mad, get even, and concluding that the best way to get over an affair is not by being a doormat and accepting it but by getting out there and avenging it.

"The last two months have seen a surge in revenge cheating as people who have discovered past betrayals during lockdown and used the new freedoms to get their own back."

Another factor in the surge has been Health Secretary Matt Hancock's affair, with men in particular encouraged by him cheating on his wife to seek a new relationship.