Would you sleep with a FRIEND'S EX?

After Harry Styles was caught in a shock embrace, Woman investigates the true meaning of girl code'

- VERONIQUE HAWKSWORTH,TESS STIMSON, SALLY WINDSOR

Following a tricky break-up, there’s no one better to pick you up and wipe away your tears than your friends. But what happens when your best mate begins a relationship with the ex who put you through so much heartbreak?

Model and actor Emily Ratajkowski, 31, was recently caught kissing singer Harry Styles, 29, who is none other than the ex of her friend, actor and director Olivia Wilde, 39. Emily has apparently been ‘begging Olivia for forgiveness’. But it doesn’t look like Olivia is ready to forgive and forget, with a source close to her claiming she sees it as a ‘betrayal’. Dating a friend’s ex is certainly risky territory, and makes you face the question, what is more important to you – a friendship or a relationship? Two women tell us their experiences…

‘IT FELT LIKE SUCH A BETRAYAL’

Tess Stimson, 50, is a freelance writer from Chelsea, London. Four months after I broke up with my fiance James*, I got a phone call from one of my closest friends, Nicki*. She told me James was dating again, and she wanted to be the first to tell me. When I made the decision to split with him, it had been my choice, not his. But James and I had been together for three years, ever since we’d met in our second year at uni, and it hurt more than I’d expected to think of him with someone else.

‘I suppose it had to happen,’ I said bravely, and asked if she knew anything about his new girlfriend. ‘Yes,’ she said. There was a long pause, before she added, ‘It’s me.’