Third person in marriage often a friend

30 March 2015 - 10:03 By Nivashni Nair
subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now
Morgan Deane and Graeme Smith
Morgan Deane and Graeme Smith

The "third person" in a marriage is probably someone the betrayed spouse is acquainted with.

Sexology professor Elna McIntosh yesterday said that although it was not uncommon for men to have extra-marital affairs with women that their wives did not know, most of her adulterous patients cheated with someone in the couples' lives.

"It is usually a colleague, a friend in your inner circle, or someone at a sports club, a person that one spends a lot of time with."

Last week Graeme Smith's jilted wife, Morgan Deane, posted a cryptic message on Twitter that gave rise to speculation. "When you find the 3rd person's name you always know them," she tweeted.

The Irish singer did not respond to requests for more detail but friends told the Sunday Times that Smith had been seeing Cape Town businesswoman Justine Haddon Schmid for a few months. Schmid said she had known Smith for "quite a while" but, through her lawyer denied that there was "a relationship".

subscribe Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package.
Subscribe now