* 71% of Brits say they would never fully forgive a partner for cheating.
* Only 12% believe a relationship can recover completely after infidelity.
* A drunken kiss is the most forgivable form of betrayal, with 89% saying they could overlook it.
* Poll conducted by IllicitEncounters.com, the UK’s leading married dating site.
Can someone who cheats on their partner ever be trusted again? That’s the question at the heart of Netflix’s Cheat: Unfinished Business, which reunites eight ex-couples torn apart by infidelity to see if forgiveness – and even love – can be salvaged. But a new poll suggests the odds aren’t good.
A new poll involving 2,500 people (split evenly between men and women) by IllicitEncounters.com, the UK’s leading married dating site, has revealed that 71% of its members would end their relationship immediately if their partner was unfaithful.
Despite their own involvement in affairs, only 12% of respondents said they believed couples can “fully recover” from cheating once the trust has been broken. Interestingly, the poll found that men were slightly more open to reconciliation than women: 38% of male respondents said they had previously forgiven a cheating partner and stayed together, compared to just 17% of women.
When it came to what kind of cheating people might actually forgive, the results were striking. A drunken kiss was seen as the most forgivable form of betrayal, with 89% saying they could potentially overlook it. Sexting followed at 66%, while just over half (51%) saying they could move past a partner secretly using dating apps.
More subtle betrayals – like “micro-cheating” (flirty messaging, liking provocative posts, or maintaining ambiguous friendships) – were forgivable for 39%. But forgiveness dropped off sharply when it came to physical or emotional intimacy: only 23% said they could get over a one-night stand, and just 17% said the same for emotional cheating. Full sexual intimacy saw forgiveness plummet to just 9%, while paying for sex was seen as the most unacceptable breach – with only 3% saying they could ever look past it.
The idea of revenge after betrayal proved to be a divisive topic, with one in four people (24%) admitting they would consider “cheating back” if they found out their partner had strayed.
The results also show a generational divide: Gen Z were the most likely to forgive infidelity (39%), followed by Baby Boomers (25%), Gen X (19%) and Millennials (17%).
Geography played a role too – the Welsh were revealed as the least forgiving nation (36%), while the Scots topped the charts for being open to giving cheaters another shot (55%).
Jessica Leoni, spokesperson for IllicitEncounters.com, said: “You might expect our members to be more open-minded about infidelity – but the opposite is true. What this poll shows is that even among people who stray, betrayal cuts deep. Trust is complex, and once broken, it’s rarely rebuilt. Netflix’s Cheat: Unfinished Business tackles exactly this issue – and our results show just how unlikely it is for couples to come back from that kind of rupture.”
Types of infidelity people are most likely to forgive:
Drunken kiss – 89%
Sexting – 66%
Secret use of dating apps – 51%
Micro-cheating – 39%
One-night-stand – 23%
Emotional cheating – 17%
Sexual intimacy – 9%
Paying for sex – 3%
Ages most likely to forgive infidelity
Gen Z – 39%
Baby Boomers – 25%
Gen X – 19%
Millennials – 17%
Country most likely to forgive infidelity
Scotland – 45%
England – 27%
Northern Ireland – 18%
Wales – 10%
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