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Relationships

Mumsnet has not checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. If you need help urgently or expert advice, please see our domestic violence webguide and/or relationships webguide. Many Mumsnetters experiencing domestic abuse have found this thread helpful: Listen up, everybody

Partner, new woman best friend

182 replies

Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 11:17

Hi all. So my partner of almost 4 years together has got close to a new woman friend.

he has lots of women friends. I’ve never been jealous of them , but this one doesn’t sit right with me.

They work in a similar industry , but met socially. not as colleagues.
I'm indirectly linked to them too, particularly her and we will likely have work related interactions in future

he was not particularly forthcoming about the ins and outs of their first meeting and how they became friends.
it was a year ago but it’s only very recently that the level of their involvement with each other has come to light and how much they communicate without my knowledge

They were both away at a social event where he was working his second job, she was an attendee .
I started seeing her name pop up on his phone, he downplayed it but at the time I didn’t realise it was downplayed.
I was invited but couldn’t make it due to poor health.

Later on after she’s pursued a friendship with me , she told me they spent all the time together and that he really took her under his wing and was really caring and kind.

he had ignored me over that period, saying there’d been crossed wires and that he didn’t know I was expecting him back on a certain day or expecting to hear from him.

i have never had a doubt in my mind about his fidelity and even now I don’t think he’s ‘done’ anything with her but things she has said make me believe she would if he was up for it.

She’s not in a happy relationship and she’s made it clear she finds him attractive

Her and my partner are now collaborating on something together, he never told me.
she has no need to be directly involved , I think she’s using his name to get more coverage for herself and he’s possibly using her because she will throw money at publicitiy.
theres no other reason for her name to be all over it, it’s not her job and nothing within it is her job .

I found out via social media and she keeps dropping it into conversation in shared groups we’re in but neither of them have told me directly. We had had a huge row when this was announced online so at the time me and him weren’t communicating but we had been close in the build up to the announcement

they have a connection which I don’t feel we have at the moment.
we have not been getting on and it feels like they are getting closer, it is supposedly platonic from his side but he is clearly lapping up the attention.

she is pure drama and main character energy and she hugely admires him and posts him everywhere, resharing all his work and bigging him up and he’s happy to accept it and I feel so small and inconsequential.
i can’t compete and won’t because it’s not my style

Most of my friends have become close with her too as she’s now become part of our scene due to his presence and including her with everything , it’s made me come off social media because I feel like the third wheel. I’m feeling like the outsider and I don’t like it one bit.

I truly love my partner, and never ever had a scrap of doubt in my mind about him. But this woman a) is trying to be my friend and b) wants to be liked by everyone, she’s hugely popular and is out at all functions, meet ups etc, I’m often busy due to the kids and other commitments and when I have attended they have left me out of conversations, gone off to do other activities and left me alone etc.

she has lots of couple friends and has been in scenarios where the woman partner has flipped out because of her involvement and she always comes across as the innocent person and the other women being jealous exes.

she is a loudmouth and part of the reason I don’t feel comfortable or safe in a clear boundaries confrontation is because she will likely blow it up into a public thing and get people onside and I will look like a jealous possessive woman .

I have seen this happen first hand with her and other women. She has pursued all the men in this line of work and one friend’s husband told her to back off when she started pursuing a close friendship with him but my partner has played right into her hands, I think because she is giving him so much airspace.

It’s like she gets a kick out of being besties with other peoples husbands.

he maintains it’s me he loves, I’ve got the wrong end of the stick, they’re just mates etc but ifeel it’s driving a huge wedge between us.

i can’t give an ultimatum, there are too many close connections and the way our relationship is currently I think he’d go behind my back anyway, he’s clearly prioritised her over me several times and it’s not until recently that she’s started to ‘bait’ me by constantly dropping into conversations things my dp has told her before telling me, social plans they’ve made

I don’t know how to process this or how to move on.

OP posts:
Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 11:37

For clarity: the huge row we’d had was not directly linked to this event announcement but about a general feeling of being overlooked by him in the relationship, excluded by him from things we used to share and one of the things was about something he’d done with her six months ago and left me out of. It’s literally like she’s filled the space where me and him used to be ‘best friends’ but the feeling has infiltrated every aspect of ‘us’

we are not relating in the way we used to and she seems to be his go- to person.
I can’t tell if she’s driving it or if it’s mutual. He’s not the most assertive of people in some dynamics and he would often joke that she’s railroaded him into this and that but he has become touchy and evasive and quite cold when I ask him to clarify stuff so I have shut down , especially with this, partly because I don’t want him confiding in her about my feelings ref her friendship with him.
does that make sense?
I feel like he’s been disloyal to us and I don’t want him to further disrespect our relationship by telling her what I feel about it

OP posts:
smallsilvercloud · 05/09/2025 11:46

Sorry to hear this, your feelings are valid, it feels wrong and it is that he’s giving her so much attention, even if it’s not an affair yet, I completely understand how you wouldn’t like it, perhaps it’s also bringing to light that maybe you aren’t so compatible with him anymore either and unfortunately he’s blindsided by her cheer leading tactics, probably an ego boost to him. I think I’d want to get out of the relationship rather staying miserable.

Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 11:58

smallsilvercloud · 05/09/2025 11:46

Sorry to hear this, your feelings are valid, it feels wrong and it is that he’s giving her so much attention, even if it’s not an affair yet, I completely understand how you wouldn’t like it, perhaps it’s also bringing to light that maybe you aren’t so compatible with him anymore either and unfortunately he’s blindsided by her cheer leading tactics, probably an ego boost to him. I think I’d want to get out of the relationship rather staying miserable.

Thank you. I think you are right.

I also feel so conflicted because I feel almost gaslighted into staying silent because I can’t trust him not to share this with her and I know her well enough to know if I tell her how I feel she will blast it everywhere and I feel they will be complicit in telling all our mutuals and people in shared spaces that I ended it because I couldn’t handle them being friends.

that is a symptom for sure but it’s not the bottom line of why I feel broken by this relationship and I don’t want to be tarred with a jealous girlfriend brush. He has let me down in lots of ways but it has ramped up since he became friends with her. Yet he still appears to love me in other ways. It’s confusing

i know I’m being ego driven here but it really affects me because it doesn’t give me closure, doesn’t give him a right to reply or a chance to try and make things better or step up or even take accountability.

i don’t believe he will be accountable but I’m not even giving him that chance if I just walk away.

do I owe him this explanation?

OP posts:
Nearly50omg · 05/09/2025 12:04

Omg I just realised after I read all this that you are STILL with your partner?!?! He’s CLEARLY having an affair with this woman!!! Whether it’s just an emotional affair at the moment rather than full on physical but for me that frankly is worse! I’d tell both of them they are welcome to each other and all the “friends” who are inviting her / including her this is because they also see what is clearly in front of you! That’s his new partner he’s lined up!

Mulledjuice · 05/09/2025 12:07

I agree with PP. I can imagine it feels hurtful but I think you have your head well screwed on. It's not about whether he's kissed her or more, it's the prioritisation of her (over you)and the secrecy which crosses a line.

If it were a male friend rather than female friend would the situation be acceptable to you?

smallsilvercloud · 05/09/2025 12:09

He’s checked out of the relationship emotionally, he won’t acknowledge being more distant with you and of course you will be labelled the jealous girlfriend, him letting you down is enough to end the relationship without her, she’s just the symptom of him losing interest sadly. You can do better than fight for him.

Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 12:17

Nearly50omg · 05/09/2025 12:04

Omg I just realised after I read all this that you are STILL with your partner?!?! He’s CLEARLY having an affair with this woman!!! Whether it’s just an emotional affair at the moment rather than full on physical but for me that frankly is worse! I’d tell both of them they are welcome to each other and all the “friends” who are inviting her / including her this is because they also see what is clearly in front of you! That’s his new partner he’s lined up!

Thanks, i have no idea if anything has happened, we have a solid sex life and attraction and she’s not his type physically, but that doesn’t mean anything, they’re definitely a meeting of minds and she has tried it on with all the men in that circle but none have ‘bitten’.
It feels like an emotional affair to me but I guess the confusion comes because on some levels they’ve included me, I know for a fact she is attracted to him because she’s made it very clear in her less guarded moments, she’s not the most discreet of people despite being sneaky as well.
i think because she has so many men friends (mainly in couples) , my dp thinks it’s ok , she’s a typical ‘not like the other girls’ type although has started to heavily emulate my style, she dotes on men in a weird way, always nurturing, cooking meals, spending loads of money, she seems to engineer that someone’s boyfriend will drop round to collect something or discuss something then she’ll produce dinner and wine and they end up to staying for hours , it’s a clear pattern but my ‘d’p says she’s just being kind and those women have misconstrued it, it’s them, not her, why can’t men and women be friends etc and I think from their attitudes, my own friends who are from that circle have the same viewpoint, it’s me being ott and over sensitive

OP posts:
Hatty65 · 05/09/2025 12:24

She’s not in a happy relationship and she’s made it clear she finds him attractive

This would be enough for me. He ends contact with this woman or I would dump him. I'm not actually the jealous type, but it feels like she's squeezed her way into your relationship and is gradually nudging you out of it. I would tell him exactly that - and make it very clear that this is a deal breaker for me. He stops having contact with this woman or he loses his relationship with me.

It is entirely his choice, but I would absolutely mean it and I'd be prepared to go.

Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 12:29

Mulledjuice · 05/09/2025 12:07

I agree with PP. I can imagine it feels hurtful but I think you have your head well screwed on. It's not about whether he's kissed her or more, it's the prioritisation of her (over you)and the secrecy which crosses a line.

If it were a male friend rather than female friend would the situation be acceptable to you?

If it were a male the lines wouldn’t be so muddied, she has made it obvious she’s attracted to him and has form for chasing men in his business sphere, I don’t like the word groupie but this is her behaviour, she wants the status of being connected to him.

he has let me down on a creative piece of work he was doing for me then she asked him to do a similar favour for her and he cut short his time with me because ‘she’s on at me to get it done’
when I challenged this he looked hurt and didn’t really explain why he was doing it for her not me.
he did it for me anyway but it felt like I was in the wrong then for demanding it and it didn’t feel given freely in the way it would have been before even though he presented it with love, it was kind of tainted then, like I was the afterthought.

he didn’t do one specifically for her In the end but his next piece of work , unlinked to me or her, she made such fanfare of it that it almost made it look like it was hers.
she sent me her public reaction blog at the same time as sharing it in our women’s group and posting it online, basically making his work linked to her name.
there was absolutely no need to send it to me and no reason whatsoever for her to make such a big thing of it so it also negated his previous price that was dedicated to me .
i have started to detach now but i still want it to work . I feel there’s no going back from this now. The ties to her and the divide it’s created are too strong . I can’t have lots of my friendships or social interactions without one or both of them being closely linked so it feels very destabilising

OP posts:
Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 12:32

Hatty65 · 05/09/2025 12:24

She’s not in a happy relationship and she’s made it clear she finds him attractive

This would be enough for me. He ends contact with this woman or I would dump him. I'm not actually the jealous type, but it feels like she's squeezed her way into your relationship and is gradually nudging you out of it. I would tell him exactly that - and make it very clear that this is a deal breaker for me. He stops having contact with this woman or he loses his relationship with me.

It is entirely his choice, but I would absolutely mean it and I'd be prepared to go.

She’s so closely linked to everything he does , I would find it impossible to set that boundary. If you ever watched friends it reminds me of when emily tried to stop Ross having anything to do with Rachel, I know that’s just telly but it would be untenable for me to set that boundary, especially where our relationship is weak right now. You are right, she has squeezed or encroached into every space and he has allowed it. As have I to an extent but I honestly didn’t realise how deep their connection was until recently, I had no idea how much they were communicating without me and they have built a bond that is separate from me.
when we’re all together I often feel out of my depth and awkward

OP posts:
Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 12:38

smallsilvercloud · 05/09/2025 12:09

He’s checked out of the relationship emotionally, he won’t acknowledge being more distant with you and of course you will be labelled the jealous girlfriend, him letting you down is enough to end the relationship without her, she’s just the symptom of him losing interest sadly. You can do better than fight for him.

Sadly I feel this too. I’m heartbroken. He definitely still wants me but without any emotional effort, and without protecting ‘us’.

I know he doesn’t want to end the relationship and more likely wants his cake and eat it and keep things as they have been for the last year or so since they developed this friendship

it’s only now I see the full picture and now I have it, I can’t just carry on blindly.

so do I just walk away from it/ him / her and keep my peace or do I say something first?

he has not always been honest with me but I feel I need to be honest and heard…

OP posts:
waterrat · 05/09/2025 12:41

The boundaries you set are between you and your partner they are literally NOTHING to do with any other person.

YOu sound like you are struggling to set boundaries in your relationship - you are putting up with behaviour that makes you very unhappy, letting your partner treat you poorly - all your focus and attention is on HER = OP this is not the way life works

The person you need to trust and to feel safe and happy with is your partner.

End this relationship and walk away now - and have some therapy so you avoid getting caught up like this again.

Hatty65 · 05/09/2025 12:43

You say something very clearly and then you walk away with your head held high and your dignity intact. Do NOT scurry off silently to make it easy for her.

Be calm, be clear - tell him that this is not the relationship you signed up for, that it feels like three of you in it and because of this you will be walking away as you value yourself far too much to become a bit part player in your own life.

He can chase you or not - be he can't keep having his cake and eating it. It's his problem to resolve, not yours.

Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 12:51

waterrat · 05/09/2025 12:41

The boundaries you set are between you and your partner they are literally NOTHING to do with any other person.

YOu sound like you are struggling to set boundaries in your relationship - you are putting up with behaviour that makes you very unhappy, letting your partner treat you poorly - all your focus and attention is on HER = OP this is not the way life works

The person you need to trust and to feel safe and happy with is your partner.

End this relationship and walk away now - and have some therapy so you avoid getting caught up like this again.

I have started therapy because this is messing with my head. I don’t feel safe or held or connected in this relationship anymore. It’s devastating and I think part of that is because it feels like it’s happened by sleight of hand and had I been aware sooner of how they connected initially and how much they communicated without me I might have been in a stronger position to assert my boundaries or leave but it’s almost like I’ve been groomed into allowing this to happen by being a part of the triangle and supporting their friendship in the guise that they showed it to me

OP posts:
Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 12:54

Hatty65 · 05/09/2025 12:43

You say something very clearly and then you walk away with your head held high and your dignity intact. Do NOT scurry off silently to make it easy for her.

Be calm, be clear - tell him that this is not the relationship you signed up for, that it feels like three of you in it and because of this you will be walking away as you value yourself far too much to become a bit part player in your own life.

He can chase you or not - be he can't keep having his cake and eating it. It's his problem to resolve, not yours.

I kind of want to do it that way, it’s really hard to explain why I don’t want to as well, other than the reasons I’ve already given. He has been evasive and omitted information and gaslit me numerous times which is only really coming to light now. It’s knocked me for six.
i feel like I’ve taken enough bullshit from him and by telling him how I feel about this relationship, I’m just inviting further gaslighting.
they’ve made me feel small but I feel that by speaking up they will double down and make me look small too

OP posts:
pikkumyy77 · 05/09/2025 13:02

Free yourself of any notion that there was any way you could have nipped this in the bud. You couldn’t. He loves the attention and the man you knew who was (more or less) devoted to you is gone. He jumped into her boat as it sailed past yours snd now he is proceeding along on their shared journey leaving you behind. You can’t catch up or take him on board again. She will have to dump him which she won’t for longer than you can stay in the relationship. And even if she does you will never feel the same about him just as he doesn’t feel the same about you.

It sounds like he is an artist/performer of some sort? She id his roadie and his muse as well as his groupie. He won’t come back from the pleasure of her undivided, single minded, flattery.

You aren’t married so no need to divorce. Take a hard look at your financial position. Tell him you won’t be harnessed with another woman, and leave. He will either wake up and return to you wholeheartedly (if you give him that chance) or he will happily trail after her.

Stop worrying about mutuals or social media. If you want to control the narrative just put up a note in social media “no fool like an old fool. I have kicked him out. Ladies come get your toy. I won’t have him back.”

fatphalange · 05/09/2025 13:08

If you want to turn a blind eye to this, which you are, then that’s your business. Have you re-read what you’ve written? Are you trying to ‘cool girl’ this? If you are then fair play.

I would fuck that absolutely off.

Dery · 05/09/2025 13:11

Tbh, OP - in a sense it doesn’t matter who she is or how she behaves. The issue is that he is not investing anything like enough time or energy in your relationship. It doesn’t help that she’s female and there may well be an additional illicit element here, but if he were spending most of his time and energy on his hobbies/with his guy friends, that would also not be okay.

But you know he lies, gaslights and neglects you. Your relationship is already struggling from what you say. And you’re only 4 years in. This is him relatively early in the relationship; this isn’t him after decades of a secure relationship.

He doesn’t sound like a safe partner for you. He’s not willing to do what’s needed to help you feel secure. So you certainly can walk away if that’s what you want to do. I would suggest having a discussion with him for but only if that’s what you want to do.

Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 13:12

pikkumyy77 · 05/09/2025 13:02

Free yourself of any notion that there was any way you could have nipped this in the bud. You couldn’t. He loves the attention and the man you knew who was (more or less) devoted to you is gone. He jumped into her boat as it sailed past yours snd now he is proceeding along on their shared journey leaving you behind. You can’t catch up or take him on board again. She will have to dump him which she won’t for longer than you can stay in the relationship. And even if she does you will never feel the same about him just as he doesn’t feel the same about you.

It sounds like he is an artist/performer of some sort? She id his roadie and his muse as well as his groupie. He won’t come back from the pleasure of her undivided, single minded, flattery.

You aren’t married so no need to divorce. Take a hard look at your financial position. Tell him you won’t be harnessed with another woman, and leave. He will either wake up and return to you wholeheartedly (if you give him that chance) or he will happily trail after her.

Stop worrying about mutuals or social media. If you want to control the narrative just put up a note in social media “no fool like an old fool. I have kicked him out. Ladies come get your toy. I won’t have him back.”

Yes he is an artist and although she’s not, she’s a huge fan and treats him like he’s a god, one of the greats.
I have always admired his work and been proud of him but I also treat him like a human being and don’t pander to him because he’s good at what he does.

She can clearly sense I’ve gone cold on her because I have and by the tone of her messages I feel she is gently goading / baiting me to explode and name what I think is happening so that she can have a big dramatic showdown and everyone rally round her.
because I’ve stepped back generally she has filled up the gaps I’ve made socially too.

I know it’s not just about her, she is a symptom and a last straw but I’m also angry, sad, hurt that she has acted like a friend to me all this time too and I’ve been a good friend to her so it is a double whammy of hurt from both of them.

i will not beg him or anything, he’s showing me by his actions where I stand. he’s had chances to wake up.
I haven’t spelled it out explicitly but I’ve said and observed enough to him.
He can’t be that obtuse. And if he is then he is thoughtless, or selfish or self absorbed

He must know that he has overstepped with her. I’ve said enough and he’s acted vague about it and pretended to be completely unaware of her attraction and I almost feel like he’s not worth it now because he will just negate my feelings

also, although she’s in an unhappy relationship she is very insecure. If the tables were turned she would come for me

OP posts:
LupaMoonhowl · 05/09/2025 13:12

Dery · 05/09/2025 13:11

Tbh, OP - in a sense it doesn’t matter who she is or how she behaves. The issue is that he is not investing anything like enough time or energy in your relationship. It doesn’t help that she’s female and there may well be an additional illicit element here, but if he were spending most of his time and energy on his hobbies/with his guy friends, that would also not be okay.

But you know he lies, gaslights and neglects you. Your relationship is already struggling from what you say. And you’re only 4 years in. This is him relatively early in the relationship; this isn’t him after decades of a secure relationship.

He doesn’t sound like a safe partner for you. He’s not willing to do what’s needed to help you feel secure. So you certainly can walk away if that’s what you want to do. I would suggest having a discussion with him for but only if that’s what you want to do.

This!

Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 13:16

fatphalange · 05/09/2025 13:08

If you want to turn a blind eye to this, which you are, then that’s your business. Have you re-read what you’ve written? Are you trying to ‘cool girl’ this? If you are then fair play.

I would fuck that absolutely off.

No im not. I have just tried to be fair and probably too generous, I honestly didn’t see the full picture until she over shared / shared some stuff which I now think was her trying to unsettle / undermine me.
plus friends feeling me it’s just work, it’s just friends, don’t read into it so much, he clearly loves you etc and I start to doubt myself.

OP posts:
Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 13:20

Dery · 05/09/2025 13:11

Tbh, OP - in a sense it doesn’t matter who she is or how she behaves. The issue is that he is not investing anything like enough time or energy in your relationship. It doesn’t help that she’s female and there may well be an additional illicit element here, but if he were spending most of his time and energy on his hobbies/with his guy friends, that would also not be okay.

But you know he lies, gaslights and neglects you. Your relationship is already struggling from what you say. And you’re only 4 years in. This is him relatively early in the relationship; this isn’t him after decades of a secure relationship.

He doesn’t sound like a safe partner for you. He’s not willing to do what’s needed to help you feel secure. So you certainly can walk away if that’s what you want to do. I would suggest having a discussion with him for but only if that’s what you want to do.

Thank you. I don’t know what I would discuss with him really? I want to state my piece but feel it would be used against me

I absolutely see that she is a symptom of something bigger (other than how she’s treated me as her supposed friend)
and I see that he has not prioritised ’us’ or me and has been unkind in lots of ways, he’s been a real mixed bag and it has been emotionally very unsettling.

I lost both my parents in quick succession when we got together and I think had I been in a stronger mental state I might not have overlooked a lot of his red flag behaviour but I leaned on this joyous new relationship and got entrenched whilst still vulnerable.
lots of things he presented as at the beginning turned out to be smoke and mirrors

OP posts:
Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 13:21

Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 13:16

No im not. I have just tried to be fair and probably too generous, I honestly didn’t see the full picture until she over shared / shared some stuff which I now think was her trying to unsettle / undermine me.
plus friends feeling me it’s just work, it’s just friends, don’t read into it so much, he clearly loves you etc and I start to doubt myself.

*telling me , not feeling me!

OP posts:
Charabanc · 05/09/2025 13:26

Trust your gut, OP. Time to go. But when you say this:

I want to state my piece but feel it would be used against me

You absolutely do what is best for you. Put your own interests first. And your interest in it not being used against you, imo, counts more than any desire to "have it out" with him (or her).

Onwards and upwards, OP. You sound like a very sorted person, you don't this shit (both meanings intended) in your life.

ThisChirpyFox · 05/09/2025 13:34

Jellyheadbang · 05/09/2025 12:51

I have started therapy because this is messing with my head. I don’t feel safe or held or connected in this relationship anymore. It’s devastating and I think part of that is because it feels like it’s happened by sleight of hand and had I been aware sooner of how they connected initially and how much they communicated without me I might have been in a stronger position to assert my boundaries or leave but it’s almost like I’ve been groomed into allowing this to happen by being a part of the triangle and supporting their friendship in the guise that they showed it to me

You are right in feeling blindsided by them but it's happened now and you can't continue to use that to excuse yourself from putting boundaries in place.

Your excuses are

  • what other people will think
  • her making a scene
  • you and your husband having a great sex life
  • it will affect friendships and group outings as she's always involved

Tell him what he needs to do or make it clear you will be out of this relationship and it is because of his dishonesty and not putting you first. Tell him that you will no longer accept his gaslighting and making you think it's in your head. And tell him you will leave. Tell him and mean it!

Id also speak to her and tell her she's over crossing. If you can't do either of these nothing will happen. What's therapy going to do if you take no action? Their relationship has clearly already grown but will continue to if you just wallow and don't really do anything about it.