Illicit Encounters is the UK’s largest and longest-running extramarital dating site, established in 2004. Our press office has been publishing data-led research on modern infidelity, marriage and relationships since 2012, and we are widely quoted in UK national press on the realities of cheating, dating and long-term commitment.
This page is a single point of reference for journalists. It explains who we are, who our in-house sex and relationships expert is, how we run our surveys, and how to reach us for comment, data or interview.
About Illicit Encounters
Illicit Encounters (IllicitEncounters.com) is a discreet dating site for married people, founded in 2004. We are the largest and longest-running extramarital dating service in Britain, and our members are UK adults in long-term relationships who are looking for something outside them – or trying to work out whether they are.
That membership gives us a rare window into a subject most researchers struggle to reach. For more than two decades we have used that access to publish original research, expert commentary and case studies on how marriage, dating and infidelity really look in the UK today – and to help journalists tell those stories accurately.
Jessica Leoni – sex and relationships expert
Jessica Leoni is the in-house sex and relationships expert for Illicit Encounters and the named spokesperson on all of our research. She is widely quoted in UK national newspapers, magazines, radio and online media on affairs, marriage, modern dating and relationship trust.
Jessica works directly with the Illicit Encounters research team to design each member survey, interpret the findings and draft the expert commentary that accompanies every release. She has spent more than a decade talking publicly about why people cheat, how relationships change over time and what married couples can learn from the lived experience of IllicitEncounters.com’s members.
Jessica is available for interview, briefings, broadcast comment and background conversations. Please contact the press office below to arrange.
How our research works
Our press releases are built on original research we carry out ourselves. All of our surveys are conducted with active members of IllicitEncounters.com – we do not commission third-party panels or poll the general public. This is a deliberate choice: every data point we publish comes from people who are themselves in the middle of having, considering or recovering from an affair, and that is a perspective you cannot get anywhere else.
A typical study surveys between 2,000 and 2,500 UK members, recruited via our member area. Surveys are delivered online, anonymised and run by the Illicit Encounters research team. Jessica Leoni reviews the results and provides the expert commentary that accompanies each release.
Journalists who need the full question wording, additional crosstabs, regional or age breakdowns, or further context on any study are welcome to contact the press office and we will supply what we have.
Press contact
For comment, data, case studies, interviews with Jessica Leoni or background conversations with the research team, please contact:
Illicit Encounters Press Office
Email: presspr@illicitencounters.co.uk
Website: www.illicitencounters.com
Press blog: www.illicitencounters.com/press
We aim to respond to all media enquiries on the same working day. Deadlines welcome.
Press appearances and media coverage
Illicit Encounters and Jessica Leoni are regularly quoted in UK national newspapers, broadsheet supplements, women’s magazines, consumer lifestyle titles and on radio and TV. Recent coverage has included comment on phone snooping, school-gate affairs, the degrees most associated with infidelity, celebrity relationship break-ups and the impact of the cost-of-living squeeze on modern marriage.
For a round-up of past coverage, or to request copies of specific clippings or quotes, please contact the press office.
Press & Media | Illicit Encounters – UK's #1 Married Dating Site 