In my teens, I accidentally dated a married man, and here’s what I learnt

July 19, 2026 — 3:00am

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Why do so many men think that monogamy is something you make dining room tables out of? I first discovered this male tendency to sexual kleptomania in my late teens when I accidentally dated a married man. Of course, I didn’t know Wayne was married until I found the teething ring in his pocket. I thought love was in the air … but it was merely the exhaust from his sports car as he drove back to his wife.

I vowed never to be similarly hoodwinked, but in my early 20s found myself embroiled yet again with another bloke who’d gone straight from puberty to adultery. Garry, a TV cameraman, was charming, handsome, solvent and with serious pecs appeal. After a six-month rollercoaster romance, I was just starting to compose the cute little joint message we’d leave on our answering machine once he moved in, when I bumped into him strolling along the Bondi promenade – literally. He was pushing a stroller with a toddler in it, a pregnant wife on his arm.

I might as well have been wearing a sign on my heart which read, “In case of emergency, break.” Suddenly, the United Nations had declared my love life a disaster area. After I finally stopped sobbing, I realised that I hadn’t fallen in love, I’d stepped in it – and it was time........

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