Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to tell my friend's OW that he is married?

30 replies

wannaBe · 11/06/2010 23:02

Posted about this situation briefly last week.

A friend who I have known for around half my life has been having an online emotional affair with a girl who is twenty years younger than him. He is married and has a two yo son, but he has told her that he is divorced. He also claimed that he was going to the states to meet up with her then concocted a story that he had not been granted a visa (he lives in South Africa so would have had to apply for one) in order to not be able to go.

I suspected that he had never got divorced because I had mentioned how sad it was to a mutual rl friend and she had no idea. But he told me at the time that he was ashamed of how his marriage had ended and that he wasn't ready to tell people yet.

Anyway last week his lies unravelled when I was suggested as a friend on facebook through a mutual friend. I already had him on fb, but with him in a relationship with this girl and with several other online friends (we do know each other in rl bu as i visit the same website he does and was aware of the relationship he had added me to this other facebook account. So it turns out he has two accounts, one with his online friends, with his relationship showing as being in a relationship with this girl who lives in the US, and the other with his rl friends and family, with his relationship showing as being married to his rl wife.

So I confronted him, and basically said "you've never been divorced at all have you? you've been lying to this girl, and everyone else you've befriended online all along, and have been lying to your dw by having secret chats with this girl on skype and msn and fb (he owns a recording studio so it was easy enough to do in a sound-proof room)."

At first he became very angry and accused me of snooping on his life, which actually I wasn't, it was by pure coincidence that his name had come up as a friend suggestion.

Eventually he apologised, and told me that his dw had actually found out about the affair and that he was trying to fix his marriage. That the girl had ended the affair anywhay recently, although had recently approached him to get back together but he was ignoring her communications and would, eventually, block her out of his life.

He then went on to say how much he hated himself yada yada. He also admitted that this girl had had no idea he was married.

So fast-forward to this week, when a mutual online aquaintence mentioned to me that friend and this girl had broken up but were now back together. Now, he's deleted me from his online fb account, but it wasn't hard to find and her's was easier to find and has no privacy settings at all. And on there she's in a relationship with him and her wall is full of posts about how happy they are and how they're planning their future together, while on his rl fb (which I am now a friend on) is full of how he's going to be spending time with his family this weekend. For the record - I only looked at this girl's fb once.

I have lost any respect I have for him, and tbh I can't see how I can continue a friendship with him.

But I A don't want to lie to mutual rl friends about him, and refuse to do so any longer, and B think this naive girl deserves to know just who she's planning her future with.

Am not going to lie to my rl friends about this, one of them already knows about the other girl and knows of my suspicions, so if she asks I will tell her what I know.

But am tempted to send this online girl a message on fb and to tell her just what she's involved with, and to give her a link to his rl fb page to prove it.

And to then walk away from the lot of them.

OP posts:
thisisyesterday · 11/06/2010 23:07

ys, i would do it

JackBauerDeservedAHappyEnding · 11/06/2010 23:31

Yes, do it. And then walk away.

sayithowitis · 11/06/2010 23:34

Yes, just make sure you do it as a private message rather than on her wall. That way, he will not have the opportunity to 'adjust' his rl fb account in any way, before she gets the chance to look.

thisisyesterday · 11/06/2010 23:36

she won't be able to see his page anyway will she? unless he adds her as a friend and he won't do that>

JackBauerDeservedAHappyEnding · 11/06/2010 23:36

Also, be prepared for her to tell him what you have said and for him to try to contact you to have a go.
But if you block him it shouldn't be an issue I don't think.

You have to do it though, you can't lie for someone else like that, it will eat you up. It's not your fault he's a cock.

caramelwaffle · 12/06/2010 00:57

Yanbu

SuziKettles · 12/06/2010 01:05

Unless he's a complete idiot as well as a shit, he will have blocked her from his "happy family man" facebook and she won't be able to see it.

DogTheBountyHunter · 12/06/2010 01:13

I would tell her, wannabe.

porcamiseria · 12/06/2010 09:17

fuck it, do it. but know that you will lose him as a friend, most likely forver

HanBanan · 12/06/2010 09:25

The messenger always gets shot. If you can take it, do it. She might not care.

minibmw2010 · 12/06/2010 09:25

Rather than send a link (which won't work anyway if he has privacy on it), do a screen shot and send her that instead, its just like an onscreen photo. (Ctrl, Shift, Scrn)

TartyMcFarty · 12/06/2010 09:26

Take a screenshot and show her that.

wannaBe · 12/06/2010 09:30

his privacy settings are crap.

is wall, name and address, marital status, everything are visible on that fb page.

But yes screenshot is a good idea.

OP posts:
RunawayWife · 12/06/2010 09:50

I would do it

BelleDameSansMerci · 12/06/2010 09:50

What about his wife? Does anyone believe that she did find out about this affair?

God, what an arse...

wannaBe · 12/06/2010 09:53

tbh I don't know. As far as I can see he's lied to every single person in his life, his rl friends, his online friends, his wife, this other girl...

I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't know.

OP posts:
MagalyZz · 12/06/2010 09:58

I'd say he's keeping quiet about his affairs and 'friendships' because that affects a divorce settlement doesn't it?!

I'd tell her and then delete him. He doesn't sound like a friend worth hanging on to.

I thought I was going to say 'no don't get involved'! but two facebook accounts!!!! one for friends and family and one for lying. Jeeeeez.

BelleDameSansMerci · 12/06/2010 10:41

He's a shocker... Takes compartmentalism to new levels.

I think you'd be well rid of him really.

thumbwitch · 12/06/2010 10:47

Another one to say "do it" - this man shouldn't be allowed to get away with this crap, he's messing 2 women around.

CrankyTwanky · 12/06/2010 10:51

Tell her.

catinthehat2 · 12/06/2010 11:02

CAn you do it under an assumed ID, so that you can entirely disassociate yourself from this unavoidable car crash?

lisianthus · 12/06/2010 11:11

Yes do it. You'll probably lose him as a friend, but it doesn't seem as if he'd be much of a loss.

But why are you just talking about letting the OW (and not the wife) know?

PurpleLostPrincess · 12/06/2010 11:57

Do it, definitely!

ImSoNotTelling · 12/06/2010 12:13

Yes tell her.

Something like this happened to a friend, she was seeing a bloke for about a year (he lived a long way away so they didn't meet in RL much) and then out of the blue she had a phone call from his fiance.

Who knows how long he would have strung my friend along if the OH had never found out and made the call.

Freeing her up to be single and find someone who was genuine. My friend wasn't a teenager, she wanted a proper relationship and children. He could have screwed that for her totally.

Tell her.

BelleDameSansMerci · 12/06/2010 12:19

You've just reminded me about a friend of mine. She was living with a man but she didn't see him at weekends as he spent every weekend with his son. Turned out he was living with my friend in the week and had told his wife that he was working away, etc, so just went home every weekend. This went on for about two years. She was devastated when she found out. Truly heartbroken.

Swipe left for the next trending thread