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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

Ex girlfriend issue - not sure how to deal with it

20 replies

Heythere12345 · 02/10/2025 01:11

I’ve been married to my husband for 7 years and I feel like this all sounds very high schooly but I’m not sure what to do! He had a girlfriend for 2 years about 12 years ago. I’ve recently seen that he will often search her name on his Facebook. They are friends so he can see her profile so he is obviously keeping tabs. He often deletes his search activity, but pretty much every time he hasn’t I notice she has been searched for. I only saw it in the first place because he was on his point and scrolling Facebook and I saw her name then. Since then I will look at his phone if I get the opportunity purely to see if he has searched for her. 9/10 times he has. I know that sounds like I’m snooping but I don’t check his messages or anything like that. However, him searching her bothers me. Should I just get over it? I’m not sure how to approach it because we have children, he’s a great husband in general and I love him. But it makes me feel like he’s pining for a previous life. Also feels tricky to bring it up as I’ve been on his phone to see it. I also worry once I tell him I know he might just keep doing it but be more careful about deleting his search for her. I’m not sure what to do. Thank you for reading of anyone got this far!!

OP posts:
UpDownAllAround1 · 02/10/2025 03:09

this is what happens if you snoop. You can only speak to him now perhaps gently asking him, how is Miss ex doing ? See what the reaction is and take it from there

Bringitonicancope · 02/10/2025 04:07

I'm sorry OP but it sounds as though he hasn't really got over her.
Does she live near you? Do you know if he and her are actually in contact?
Tbh I think you should talk to him about her.

OursonGuimauve · 02/10/2025 07:40

I check up on my ex fairly regularly and I've been married for 10 years, I'm just nosy, gently hope he ages badly, and don't really forget about people, I also know what people I went to school with and haven't spoken to in 15+ years are up to. Maybe your husband is pining or he could be nosy too

AnotherVice · 02/10/2025 08:06

I wouldn’t like this either but I think I’d just be honest about it. Say how you innocently noticed and apologise profusely that you’ve been checking since but it makes you feel really uncomfortable and have a discussion about it. If he’s decent he will understand, I don’t suppose he’d be happy if you were doing the same. Hopefully he can allay your fears.

Greyhound98 · 02/10/2025 08:22

I suppose it depends on what you do with his answer if you ask him, and if you’d believe him anyway.
I wouldn’t like it as would ask him why he was Facebook stalking his ex on a regular basis as if he asked how I knew I’d tell him he’d slipped up by not deleting his search history. I wouldn’t be apologetic for ‘snooping’ fuck that. You have a right to know if you are a consolation prize and he’d be back with the ex if she’d have him.
You need to tell him how shit this has made you feel and that are doubting his feelings for you. If he’s angry and blames you for ‘snooping’ that’s on him. He still did it, whether you knew about it or not. I bet he wouldn’t be overjoyed if you were obsessing over some ex from long ago.

Brightbluesomething · 02/10/2025 08:55

This is what happens when you go snooping. So you can either stress over it and let it consume you, or talk to him about it.

It’s pretty obvious that you see previous searches when you go to search something yourself so tell him that. Ask him why he’s doing it.

If you don’t get a reasonable response then you know that despite marriage and kids he’d be back sniffing round her the second she’s single. That’s likely what he’s searching to find out.

I wouldn’t be happy being someone’s second choice.

Missj25 · 02/10/2025 22:16

Brightbluesomething · 02/10/2025 08:55

This is what happens when you go snooping. So you can either stress over it and let it consume you, or talk to him about it.

It’s pretty obvious that you see previous searches when you go to search something yourself so tell him that. Ask him why he’s doing it.

If you don’t get a reasonable response then you know that despite marriage and kids he’d be back sniffing round her the second she’s single. That’s likely what he’s searching to find out.

I wouldn’t be happy being someone’s second choice.

I’m sure OP isn’t his second choice !! Let’s not be reading way too much into things over facebook searches ..
Now I personally wouldn’t like it myself, & i’d go & ask my husband , & feck this thing of him turning it into “ you shouldn’t be snooping “ ..
Stand firm OP & just ask him straight out, Why ????

DarkTreesWhisper · 02/10/2025 22:37

Some people are just curious about what people are up to. It doesn't mean they are pining for a past relationship. I have searched people who I used to go to school with etc and not for wanting to reconnect either, just wondering what happened to that person.

He is friends with her on Facebook so his search is just finding her page. Why not just straight up ask him about the friends he has on Facebook if you want to start a conversation about feeling uncomfortable about her specifically.

Missj25 · 03/10/2025 06:51

DarkTreesWhisper · 02/10/2025 22:37

Some people are just curious about what people are up to. It doesn't mean they are pining for a past relationship. I have searched people who I used to go to school with etc and not for wanting to reconnect either, just wondering what happened to that person.

He is friends with her on Facebook so his search is just finding her page. Why not just straight up ask him about the friends he has on Facebook if you want to start a conversation about feeling uncomfortable about her specifically.

Op says it’s in his search history, so that’s typing her name in & from what she says he does it a bit 🤷🏻‍♀️..
I don’t think for one second OP is second choice or anything like that ,but if he was my husband I’d rather he didn’t search her ..

Crackerjackscrack · 03/10/2025 06:59

Could be for a number of reasons

she hurt his feelings so he kind of hopes she will fall on her face

he hurt her feelings and now feels bad so is hoping she’s doing well

standard nosiness

w@nking over her

unfinished business, he’s still hung up on her

someone told him something about her and he’s doing detective work

you’re never going to know unless you ask him and it’s eating you up so I think you need to fess up and say what you’ve put on here and how insecure it’s making you feel and also apologise for not just asking him in the first place

ForGladGreen · 03/10/2025 07:46

I don’t know if he can ever give you an acceptable answer to this though, even if you did confront him and ask. What scenario can he give that would be acceptable?

  1. oh I’m just nosy, she just pops in my head every now and then (almost every day actually) and I want to see what she is up to
  1. oh no definitely no feelings there, I actually don’t like her so it’s more me checking and hoping to gleam from her fb page that her life is going badly 🤣 but I do like to check that daily!
  1. I’ve never gotten over her, still so attracted to her, I know I’m married with children and we’ve been together over 7 years but I think of her daily and still really fancy her but given I am married with kids the only way I can get my fix is by looking at photos of her

?!

There are a million other versions of answers he could give, but they all sound pretty sad and grim, and I don’t think there is one single answer he could give to explain him looking at photos / updates of another woman every day or even every other day that wouldn’t just make you feel really sad.

And I don’t think he will be able to honest with you if you do ask him.

How long were they together before you met him? Is it someone he has spoken about in the past as a great love of his life?

I think it definitely signals that she is on his mind daily, I don’t know how he could argue otherwise given he checks her account so frequently. So I suppose it’s down to you and whether you’re happy to know that in yourself, and to accept that from him. If you aren’t happy to accept that, even if you ask him to ‘stop looking at her page please’ it doesn’t really fix the problem - you can’t prevent him from thinking about her and still having feelings for her. So then it’s a much bigger question of do you feel comfortable knowing your husband likely still has feelings for someone else after this long? Is that something you would walk away over?

Even if he doesn’t have feelings for her and he insists this is pure intrigue / being nosy, what kind of compulsion drives him to that every day or every other day when he has a wife and kids? That can’t be good either.

finally I suppose it’s a question of how likely
is it that this checking of her fb page will escalate to something else. Does he have her number? Do they ever run in the same circles? If he bumped into her one day, would you trust that it wouldn’t cross a line or escalate what is already clearly a bit of an infatuation on his part?

only you can really answer all this, so it might be worth working this through with a therapist.

But I’m sorry that you have found yourself here, I think I feel really sad that you must feel very insecure that someone else is so on his mind. Being a mum and a wife and juggling life and work is hard enough, go easy on yourself with this - it’s nothing you have done / not done enough. It’s only him that can be honest with what is going on here. X

DarkTreesWhisper · 03/10/2025 07:54

@Missj25 I am not an avid user of Facebook but if you have 400 friends and your feed is full of other people's stuff searching their name is the quickest way to see their page isn't it? Otherwise you are going into your friends list, then choosing all friends option, then having a whole list of people to scroll through to find the person you are looking for. I search my sister using the search function as it is easier to find her that way.

The OP needs to talk to husband. If this is making her uncomfortable it is better to have the conversation rather than her snooping through his phone feeling shitty if she sees he has looked.

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 03/10/2025 07:55

This is ‘toxic’ but I would just go onto his Facebook and block her or unfriend her. I don’t think he’ll know that you did it. IF he has some way of being certain it was you and IF he confronts you then hold your own and tell him it was so strange that he was monitoring her so much and it made you start feeling you needed to monitor his monitoring which is ridiculous so you decided to put your marriage first. I don’t think he’ll say anything to you though.

Unexpectedlysinglemum · 03/10/2025 07:56

If you block her and he immediately notices that’s a strong evidence to prove your point about how obsessively he looks at her and that’s not appropriate for a married man

Missj25 · 03/10/2025 08:05

DarkTreesWhisper · 03/10/2025 07:54

@Missj25 I am not an avid user of Facebook but if you have 400 friends and your feed is full of other people's stuff searching their name is the quickest way to see their page isn't it? Otherwise you are going into your friends list, then choosing all friends option, then having a whole list of people to scroll through to find the person you are looking for. I search my sister using the search function as it is easier to find her that way.

The OP needs to talk to husband. If this is making her uncomfortable it is better to have the conversation rather than her snooping through his phone feeling shitty if she sees he has looked.

Yeah , no I know that’s what i mean , he is typing her name in ..

You’re right , she needs to talk to him ..

Elektra1 · 03/10/2025 08:09

I’m single. Sometimes I look up my exes. Doesn’t mean I want them back!

IshebeingadickoramI · 03/10/2025 08:16

Personally I wouldn't be happy he is friends with his exes on FB in the first place. It's disrespectful.

FlyingUnicornWings · 03/10/2025 08:36

OursonGuimauve · 02/10/2025 07:40

I check up on my ex fairly regularly and I've been married for 10 years, I'm just nosy, gently hope he ages badly, and don't really forget about people, I also know what people I went to school with and haven't spoken to in 15+ years are up to. Maybe your husband is pining or he could be nosy too

Same for me, I’m a nosy bastard. Wouldn’t give them the time of day if I saw them in the street though!

OP, I can understand why your heckles would be up. I’m going to vote it’s just morbid curiosity (perfectly human), but if you’re worried just ask him.

cosmicbabe · 03/10/2025 13:23

I’d be checking his messages…

Slimmernow · 03/10/2025 19:02

cosmicbabe · 03/10/2025 13:23

I’d be checking his messages…

It’s always the deleted messages you need to search……

However with FB I think when you open the search function the last 10 searches come up - so it may have been he searched for her once years ago?

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