According to a new Lovehoney survey, two-thirds of women have enjoyed a ‘friend with benefits’ experience. The survey of 1,600 people discovered that 64% of women have admitted sleeping with a FWB – a male friend they have no-strings sex with – compared to 51% of men who have done the same with a female friend. Most men and women think FWB relationships are a good idea – 70% of men and 63% of women reckon they work – and slightly more women (23%) than men (20%) have juggled more than one ‘sex buddy’ at the same time.
The survey also found that these no-strings arrangements have turned into a proper relationship for 30% of women and 28% of men and a third of women (32%) and 28% of men have carried on sleeping with a former partner as a FWB because they did not want to lose the sexual connection after a break-up.
More men (28%) than women (20%) have had a work colleague as a FWB and 43% of men and 30% of women have had sex in the office with their sex buddies. Other figures from the survey include 50% of women have had between 1-3 FWBs, 12% have had between 4-6 FWBs and 5% have had 7 or more, while the corresponding percentages for men were 41%, 9% and 4%. Just under a fifth of men and women (18%) have cheated on a full-time partner with a FWB and only 7% of women and 6% of men have dumped their regular partner for a FWB.
The most popular period for a FWB benefits for women was more than two years, with one in seven of those polled saying they had kept a relationship based on casual sex going for that long. The second most popular duration for women was 3-6 months (12%), followed by 6-12 months (11%) and up to three months (10%). Men also liked prolonged FWB relationships with two years also the most popular answer (14%), followed by 6-12 months (13%) and 3-6 months (12.5%). More than half of women (55%) but just 40% of men immediately stop sleeping with FWBs when they embark on a new relationship.
A Lovehoney spokesperson said: “Friends with benefits can be a great idea to fill a sexual void while you are in between relationships. These arrangements for casual sex seem to work particularly well for women who miss intimacy when they are single but prefer to sleep with someone they are familiar with. It is interesting that FWBs are no substitutes for more committed partners. Less than one in ten men and women have swapped that special person in their lives for a FWB.”
Friends With Benefits was a 2011 Hollywood romantic comedy starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis [pictured] as professionals who naively believed that adding sex to their friendship would not lead to complications.
