Happy Valentine’s Day! Ashley Madison has just released a new study examining how cheaters juggle their marriage and their affairs on Valentine’s Day. Turns out cheaters prioritize affair partners over spouses on V-Day.

Check out key findings

• 30% of cheaters rather spend V-Day w/ their affair partners
• Cheaters are spending upwards of $250 on affair partners
• Nearly one-third of cheaters celebrate Valentine’s Day with their affair partner

No more sidelines for the Side Piece this Valentine’s Day

Ashley Madison, the world’s leading married dating website, used its unprecedented access to people who cheat to find out how members juggle the romantic responsibility of celebrating their marriage and their extramarital relationship on the special day.  As it turns out, cheaters spend Valentine’s Day very differently between their two partners and prioritizing a spouse is no longer the status quo with almost a third (28%) of survey respondents opting to spend it with their affair partner.

Spouse vs. Mistress/Misteress

With extramarital partners,  people often aren’t looking to replace their spouse, they’re looking to fulfill unmet needs. That said, it’s clear there is a shift happening and the affair partner is rising up the ranks as it pertains to partner priority.

“Typically, holidays and special occasions are reserved for the spouse and the affair partner is sidelined,” says Isabella Mise, Director of Communications at Ashley Madison. “But for Valentine’s Day this year, we’re seeing that affairs of the heart can lead to new traditions with a greater importance being placed on the extramarital relationship.”

Also interesting is that respondents spend about the same amount of money on their primary partner as they do for their affair partner. According to the survey, more than a third of respondents say they spend between $100-$250 on their affair partner, while the same amount (36%) say they spend $100-$250 when asked how much they spend on their spouse. This is surprising because you’d think the main romantic holiday of the year would be reserved for the primary partner, but this implies there is no real distinction between how they view the importance of each relationship.

 Cheaters spend the same amount on their spouse and affair partner, but spend the money in different ways.

When asked, 71% of respondents say they celebrate Valentine’s Day with their affair partner by having sex, whereas 73% spend Valentine’s Day with their spouse by having dinner. Cheaters are likely spending their money on their spouse during dinner while spending the same amount on things like a hotel room for the affair partner.

“Between how they spend their money and how they spend their time, the members surveyed are demonstrating that there is an increased investment being made with affair partners,” says Mise. “It will be interesting to see if this shift continues.”

*Survey of 1,638 members of Ashley Madison between January 25, 2018 to February 5, 2018