Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Husband addicted to online sex on webcams

108 replies

Jaded82 · 28/02/2022 13:20

It’s come out that my husband, whom I totally trusted and I thought was the most moral and dependable person ever, has been using porn and sex chat lines ever since we got married. That has progressed in the last decade to hooking up with women on webcams to have online sex (sometimes a few times a week!) He likes to return to the same ones so much so they’ve got to recognise/know him and they have chats. He’s told me the things he’d want them to do and all the compliments he’d give them. I feel sick and disorientated. Over the years he’s spent over £10,000 on this and I never realised!! He says they were easier to be with than me because they took compliments better! Actually he never complimented me. He says eventually, if we ever actually had sex (which was rare because he always pushed me away!) he’d fantasise about them.

My husband is getting therapy for sex addiction and childhood trauma therapy but I feel so lonely and rejected. I don’t know what to do. It’s all I can think about and I have horrible images flash into my mind often. Are there any stories of people forgiving their partners and being able to build afresh? I’ve lost my bearings and don’t know if I’m being too hopeful or too dramatic!

OP posts:
SamphiretheStickerist · 28/02/2022 14:10

Oh! I see. So currently you are wallowing in it. That must be the worst part of dealing with such shit.

I hope you find your own even keel on this. But disclosures, acting out, polygraphs - all sound like way, way too much head space being given over to something that is so obviously deviant behaviour and doesn't really require NATO intervention!

morninginging · 28/02/2022 14:11

He is disgusting. Get rid. Do not normalise this terrible behaviour. You can do much much better that tolerate this.

Lying. Cheating. Insulting. Pathetic.

Jaded82 · 28/02/2022 14:12

SamphiretheStickerist Yes I do feel it seems to normalise the behaviour and is all about trying to understand him. I’m a bit tired of him playing the victim role because of his childhood trauma too and depression he now has. I feel lost in it all. If I express my despair or sometimes have a panic attack, my husband shuts down (I guess shame), takes offence and can’t speak to me.

OP posts:
YanTanTetheraPetheraPimp · 28/02/2022 14:14

I’d be telling anyone who asked, why should it be your dirty little secret?
He’s a pervert.

MrJollyLivesNextDoor · 28/02/2022 14:16

£10k spent on online sex with other women! While you have brought up your family and scrimped and saved and went without. Fucking hell.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's been using prostitutes aswell.

And all he's really bothered about is the embarrassment of people finding out.

I'd be kicking him out and telling everyone exactly why!

He's done this OP. Him. Not you.

Know your worth and get rid

JPI7 · 28/02/2022 14:17

Sounds grim to be honest.

Jaded82 · 28/02/2022 14:18

Sorry, I know I’m ranting. I really appreciate all your comments and points of view. Thanks for your time, it’s helpful. I feel like I’ve lost my way and I’m going mad. I don’t feel I know what I should consider normal anymore. I’d always thought my husband was kind, gentle and faithful. He always said I was controlling. I feel totally disorientated.

OP posts:
SamphiretheStickerist · 28/02/2022 14:19

Then I am guessing that you are looking for someone to validate how you are feeling. To say that his actions are inexcusable and you don't have to stay.

And if I were you I would stop wasting time and money on therapy. I would spend it on a shit hot lawyer (SHL) and would be getting my ducks in a row, ready to leave him, the marriage, and his sordid little world.

You and your kids deserve a life free of that kind of toxic crap. Give yourself permission to give up on him. Nobody would think less of you. And who cares if they do?

NorthSouthcatlady · 28/02/2022 14:19

I’ve put YABU as you appear to be sucking all of this up. Don’t you have any self esteem?

doodleygirl · 28/02/2022 14:22

Why would you even want to stay with him, he has lied, cheated, deceived and is a total disgusting person. Surely it would be be better for your self esteem and long term happiness to leave.

Get angry, find your inner strength and tell him you deserve so much better. You will not recover from this whilst with him, it will haunt you.

Jaded82 · 28/02/2022 14:22

Thanks MrJollyLivesNextDoor, I mean I think it’ll come out with all the chat lines he’s used it’ll be more than £10k over our whole marriage. I know the therapist says in his ‘addiction’ he was escalating and so next step would’ve been prostitutes. My husband still vehemently denies he physically went to a prostitute but accepts he probably built emotional affairs with 10 of women online over the years as he’d plan when they specifically were on to hook up etc

OP posts:
newbiename · 28/02/2022 14:23

@Jaded82

Thank you, it’s unbelievable that I’d consider divorcing him. We’ve been friends since we were 8 years old and have grown up together. I can’t believe he’d do this to me! It doesn’t feel like my life
But also, how could you stay with him ? I bet your kids would be appalled
Yellowsubhubabubbub · 28/02/2022 14:26

Bless you OP Sad that’s catastrophic
I think you’re in shock and you should go to a therapist yourself.
As others have said: it’s the adultery and the money !
I can’t imagine you’re able to tell anyone close you you -of course they’d say “leave” but you need to get there yourself.

If he’s twisting it and saying you’re controlling -that’s him already making excuses. So that’s not a great start.

The life you thought you had is over ( but it was never real ) and that’s a lot to deal with.
I think you should listen to the poster who said her partner escalated this type of behaviour
Hugs Sad

RedRoseRay · 28/02/2022 14:26

If he’s been doing this throughout your marriage and having four children, he isn’t going to stop doing it, not permanently. He may temporarily because he’s been caught but he’ll just be more secretive next time. It’s only a matter of time before you catch him doing it again. He’s lied to you for years. He’s become comfortable with lying to you. You’ve had to drag the truth out of him and you probably still don’t know it all and never will. Do you want to live the rest of your life with a man who does this and disrespects you and your family by giving money to these women?

Ragwort · 28/02/2022 14:27

Imagine how your grandmother would feel if she knew you were staying with this man and using her inheritance for 'therapy'.

If this was your DD, what advice would you give her?

Malibuismysecrethome · 28/02/2022 14:29

How convenient he now has a sex addiction. I’m sure you are devastated for him. Poor chap I’m sure he needs all the help, understanding and therapy he can get. Nobody understands how terrible it is for him. LTB

TorringtonDean · 28/02/2022 14:29

This is cheating and stealing plain and simple. These are real women and he’s built relationships with them. It’s not any different because it’s online.

I can imagine it will be an enormous wrench divorcing and probably hard to explain to extended family. It may cost you a lot financially too. But you will feel better on the other side of it. The alternative is putting up with this humiliation for decades. He will end up going to real-life prostitutes, even if he hasn’t done it yet. Could you stand that? You deserve better than this.

Don’t let anyone tell you it was nothing because it was only online. This is a real and sick perversion. You shouldn’t have to suffer all of this.

Mermaidwaves · 28/02/2022 14:35

I'm not sure I buy the whole sex 'addiction' thing, it immediately takes away the blame on the 'addict' and validates what they've been doing. Councellors make a living from all these pysuedo terms, it benefits them to have people paying for these groups, there was another term on here recently 'retroactive jealousy' which seemed to mean 'abusive arsehole', sorry if I sound cynical!

OP would you ever trust him again? Even if he has all this therapy do you really think he will be faithful? Every time you go out or away or he does you will be wondering what he's up to. All that money that could have been spent on your family, its unforgivable. Men that cheat to this extent I think will always have that urge, how do you know it wont escalate to prostitutes, he likes the illicit and the risk by the looks of it.

You and your kids don't need that in your lives Flowers

Jaded82 · 28/02/2022 14:37

Yellowsubhubabubbub I think
I am in shock. The life I thought I had was never real. Interestingly I’ve told a couple of friends and they haven’t said leave. They are also shocked as everyone thinks my husband is the nicest most genuine caring man.

OP posts:
Jaded82 · 28/02/2022 14:41

Ragwort Yes I do keep thinking my Grandma would be turning in her grave!

And it crosses my mind about my daughter, I’d want her out if she had a husband that did this!
I don’t know why I don’t feel same for myself

OP posts:
TorringtonDean · 28/02/2022 14:42

I had friends say it was “just porn”. It wasn’t, it was much more than that. In the end I knew I couldn’t tolerate having this slimeball in my house a moment longer - and my opinion was really all that mattered! You might think you know him but obviously you don’t at all.

Jaded82 · 28/02/2022 14:43

Malibuismysecrethome Quite! Initially he said he didn’t think it was any different than porn. And I guess I’m so confused as I know lots of men view porn. So I’ve lost sense of what’s acceptable!

OP posts:
Lizzy1980 · 28/02/2022 14:45

@Chickychoccyegg

I wouldn't be Interested in rebuilding a relationship, he's done too much, through your whole marriage and tried to blame you. I would happily divorce in this situation and I'd tell everyone why.
This. He’d rather separate than have people find out??? He doesn’t get to call the shots OP. You are under no obligation to keep his dirty little secret for him. Obviously you may choose to as you have kids to consider, but that should be your choice and not his. Just as it should be your choice if you stay together or not. He has forfeited his right to have a say in what happens next. As a couple of people have already said, addiction my arse! He has treated you terribly but still hasn’t got the balls to accept responsibility. I know plenty of people that aren’t great at taking compliments. That doesn’t mean they deserve to be treated like shit. I really am sorry this has happened to you. You must be so hurt Flowers
ChaToilLeam · 28/02/2022 14:47

He’s a liar and a cheat and has - literally - spaffed away £10K on this “addiction” while you’ve been scrimping and saving.

And now your small inheritance is going on therapy?

OP, this sounds an awful situation. But I encourage you to look up “sunk cost fallacy”. It’s clear you don’t want to break up, but this man is slime, he has deceived not just you but everyone around you. No wonder he doesn’t want people to know. I would be shouting it from the rooftops, you should not have to lie to protect him. He has given no thought to your feelings.

DaisyDreaming · 28/02/2022 14:47

Childhood trauma and ‘addiction’ doesn’t make cheating ok. You don’t have to buy info as he was hurt as a child this is part of his trauma or part of the illness of addiction. I’m sorry he has been cheating on you. Sounds like he also has chosen to try and hurt you as much as possible with the things he has said. It’s one thing to confess to cheating but to go on and say things like when sleeping with you he would fantasise about them is just so cruel and being said to cause the maximum hurt

Swipe left for the next trending thread