Fancy a spot of two-timing?

Since arriving in Portugal last April, the «Secondlove» website has just grown and grown. In only a month, more than 8.000 people signed on to it.

Now, for those (few?) of you that don’t know, this isn’t just another portal for virtual dating, marriage or sex. It was specifically designed for people who are already in serious relationships but who for their own particular reasons want an “extra-marital/ conjugal” fling.

There’s no point moralizing because with an average of 1.900 people signing up every week, the site’s popularity has already overtaken countries where it was first introduced: Holland, Belgium and Spain.

The process is simple. To initiate “interaction” (by this, we mean exchange messages, etc.) one needs to pay a subscription. The way it works, anyone over the age of 18 can sign up to see other member’s “profiles”.

Some guys describe themselves in full sincerity – “I’m a regular kind of bloke”; “I’m a little overweight and losing some hair”. One 49-year-old member explains that his “stomach isn’t yet a serious problem”.

Others admit, “I am not George Clooney”, though they hasten to add that their attributes “have never caused embarrassment or put anyone off”…

And there are those who say that they “exercise a liberal profession and are happily well-paid”. Well, that’s something, isn’t it? Who wants a fling with a penniless lover, after all?

There’s much use of well-intended adjectives (although perhaps they don’t correspond perfectly with the character of the “typical Portuguese male”) – “good humoured”, “serene”, “educated”, “respectful”, “playful”, “sincere”, “timid”, “a confident man”.

While there are those who like to blow their trumpets – “graduate, educated, professional” – because, who knows, a new love could spell a new job. In her husband’s company, for example…

Some recognise that they’re “a work in progress” – always a challenge for a lady who doesn’t mind a few imperfections… And then there are the one-offs – “Café intellectual, urban not depressive”;

“I am like the albatross following the fishing trawler”; “I am like a soft breeze” – and, finally, those that like to present their philosophies on life: “I prefer to pay for something I have done, than something I neglected to do”, or just “Looking for trouble” (and probably a lover who speaks English!)

A young 26-year-old female declares: “The best way to resist temptation is to give in to it!” Is that so? Another 30-something bird confesses: “I have a stable, gratifying relationship that has already lasted a number of years, but I would like to have something more”.

While one young lady queries “I am purely, pure and have signed up in search of a partner to spice up my days, not a soulmate (as I already have one), but someone to play with.

Are you on?” There’s also the one who simply declares: “I have special talents”. With so many virtues and good ideas out there, why is it that so many people actually need a second love?