Could You Marry A Lothario?

The average Brit has had seven sexual partners, but some men and women have clocked up far more than that. Woman investigates how to cope with dating a Casanova...

- Nilufer Atik And Bess Browning

There comes a point in any relationship when that awkward question arises: What's your ‘magic number’? And while disclosing the notches on our bedpost with friends over a bottle of wine is fun, it can be a dangerous topic with a new partner. What if a potential husband confesses to having bedding hundreds of women?

Bill Roache, 87, who plays Ken Barlow in Coronation Street, recently revealed that his inability to control his sex drive (he's admitted to sleeping with more than 1,000 women) led to him cheating on his first wife, Anna Cropper. ‘It doesn’t bring you happiness,’ he said recently. ‘To make love to somebody that you love is the most beautiful thing in the world.’

Bill says he’d given up his womanising ways by the time he met his second wife, Sara McEwan Mottram, in his mid-40s. Yet not all women would consider a lothario as marriage material. According to one survey, 30% would break up with their partner for having too many previous lovers.

But would you dump a Casanova? Or give him the chance to be a one-woman man? Writer Nilufer Atik tells us what it’s like to have to make that decision.

‘HE SAID HE’D NEVER HURT ME’

Nilufer Atik, 43, lives in Surrey, with her partner James* and their three-year-old son.

I’ve always had an old-fashioned attitude when it comes to sex. I grew up believing that, while it was OK for a man to sleep around, if a woman did, it would tarnish her reputation and make her less appealing as a wife.