The new kind of cheating has everything to do with your favorite series

Almost nothing in love hurts as much as discovering that your dear little sweetheart is just peeing outside, in your face.
No sweet old cookies from the ditch, crying, cuddling, and making up: cheating often means the end of a relationship more often than not. Oh, your lover couldn't help it because it didn't come from HIS/HER side and well, it was just one tiny time. Bye and regards. We are not that forgiving, no.

But it can also go the other way, of course: you suddenly get butterflies for that funny colleague, that charming appearance in the pub, or that old ex you unexpectedly run into again. Before you know it, you're lying fun in a hotel room. Or at the other person's home. Not classy, but that's how it sometimes goes in life. Both men and women are guilty of this, and that's nothing but a fact.

Although... Maybe it used to be like that, because nowadays there is a whole new way of cheating and it has everything to do with your favorite series and movies. What? We're talking about: ‘Netflix-cheating’. This phenomenon originated in 2013 in the United States and is slowly but surely coming our way. What is it? It means that as a couple you watch a series together on Netflix – and then suddenly your dear little sweetheart just continues watching. A whole episode. Or even two. If things go wrong, a whole season. Without you. The horror.

Research shows that we engage in a lot of digital infidelity: 48% of all couples have ever watched one or more episodes without their partner. Shame. But perhaps even worse: 60% indicates they do it even more often if they are sure their lover won't find out. And when do we do that, all that sneaky cheating behind our screens? At least 25% admits to cheating when the other is asleep. Furthermore, we mainly do it when our innocent love is at work.

And we are certainly not honest. In the past, there was sometimes lying about a drunken kiss during a night out, now it's nothing more than lying about hanging out in front of the TV. Naughty Netflix, you could say. At least 45% says they never admit to watching ahead in their up. And so they watch, yes, inevitably, some episodes double. And then try not to accidentally spill the beans and reveal the whole clue. Or pretend you don't know who dies in episode 26. And HOW boring is it, watching for 3.5 hours what you already watched yesterday...

You have to be willing to sacrifice something for all that naughty behavior. No, no, just give me that lost kiss in the pub. Much simpler.

FACTS

– Partners are most likely to cheat during Orange Is The New Black, Black Mirror, and Marvel's Jessica Jones.

– Research from Netflix shows that we are still quite well-behaved in the Netherlands. Only 27 of the couples ‘cheat’. Worldwide, this is at 48 percent.

Written by: Tessa Heinhuis