Infidelity website 'urges married couples to have secret affairs'

London, Oct 1: A controversial ad for a website that encourages married couples to indulge in secret affairs caused massive uproar in America.

And now it could be aired in Britain as part of the multi-million pound UK launch of ashleymadison.com, christened so because it combines the two most popular girls' names in the US and creator Biderman wanted the brand to appeal to women as well as men.

Branded "a business built on the back of broken hearts, ruined marriages and damaged families" but hailed by others as "an honest format for an age-old human weakness", the site already has seven million members in the US, Canada and Australia, reports the Sun.

"It was becoming increasingly apparent people who wanted to cheat on their partners were using more traditional sites like Facebook and match.com but concealing the fact they were married when they began dating," said Canadian-born Biderman.

"So I didn't need to generate infidelity but I saw that I could capitalise on it by taking this pool of people away from the mainstream dating sites and letting them know about another community where both parties could be more honest about what they're doing," he added.

Starting from 49 pounds for 100 credits, members can email one another (five credits); engage in real-time chat, enter virtual bars and bedrooms (both 30 credits for 30 minutes) and even post virtual gifts to one another.

"I've had to convince people that communicating on Ashley Madison is safe, with billing under a pseudonym," Biderman said.

His venture has provided Biderman with some new insights into marriages.

"Around two men for every woman on the site and a three to four-year itch scenario as opposed to the more mythical seven-year phenomenon," he said.

"For years, infidelity was viewed as a male phenomenon but Ashley Madison revealed more and more women have been having affairs as opportunity has allowed them to enter the workplace," Biderman added.

Curiously, Biderman, who has been faithfully married for eight years, says there was no role model in his own family for infidelity.

"Have I been tempted to stray? Yes," he said confidently.

"Is our relationship perfect? No. But I try hard to keep it on the right tracks. I might one day find myself in a similar position to my members and, if so, I would rather stray then leave the family unit," Biderman said.

However, he said that he would be shocked if he were told that his wife was cheating on him.

But Biderman appears to delight in his role as a moral villain because he knows controversy sells.

And as he points out, "Extra-marital affairs existed long before Ashley Madison and will continue to long afterwards."

ANI