Friends Reunited Media Centre

THE PHOTOS YOUR PARTNER WON’T BE SHOWING YOU

• 43 per cent of Brits keep photographs of former partners

Friends Reunited reveals that 21.6 million Brits have kept photographs of former partners as a reminder of special times or because they still have feelings for their exes.

The latest findings from Friends Reunited highlight that men may be hiding more from their partners than their other halves realise. One in five men (20%), in a current relationship who have photos of their ex partners, say they have kept photos of their ex hidden as they don’t think their new partner would approve, compared to only nine per cent of women.

Interestingly men seem to have more weighing on their conscience, as 17 per cent said they ‘sometimes feel guilty about keeping photos of their ex partners’, compared to just 11 per cent of their female counterparts. Although they may have good reason for feeling a secret guilt about the photos as more than one in ten men who keep photos of their ex partners (12%) admit they still have feelings for their ex, compared to only five percent of women!

Women on the other hand are more sentimental than men, with 61 per cent claiming they only keep the photos as they show a part of their life they don’t want to forget, versus 56 per cent of men.

Corinne Sweet, behavioral psychologist said: “It’s not surprising that nearly half of us keep some kind of visual memento of past partners; a photo generates strong emotions as it unleashes memories of past attachment and times. The main reason people hide their photos (especially men) is probably due to a fear of their current partner’s jealousy, or of evoking comparisons in terms of attractiveness and sexiness, etc.  Emotionally mature partners will be able to accept you have a past love-life.

“The point at which people are able to put an ex-partner’s photo away (after a split, divorce or death) is usually the time they are emotionally ready to move on. Yet, it is totally understandable for people to keep photos to remind them of previous loves, as, indeed, these images do form part of our life stories – whether for better or for worse.”

Top reasons for keeping photos of ex partners:

ALL

• It was part of my life/growing up that I don’t want to forget - 59%
• They bring back good memories - 40%
• I don’t like throwing any photos away - 37%
• They remind me of a special event - 24%
• I look good in the photos - 10%
• They make me laugh - 10%
• I still have feelings for my ex - 9%
• I think we may get back together one day - 2%
• So I can use them against him/her one day - 1%

Men

Women

The majority of us (48%) keep these snaps in old photo albums, but others (31%) stash them in cupboards and draws, or in the attic (12%) - perhaps to keep them hidden, but reachable when needed! Nine per cent of men say they purposely hide the photos in hidden files on their computer.

Matt Bushby, Head of Friends Reunited, said: “We all have photos from our past we want to keep; whether we want to share with others, or remain private. Old photos are often the best – they bring back memories and blasts from the pasts, even if we think we’d sometimes prefer to forget! The new Friends Reunited site is the one place you can search, collect and save treasured personal memories, especially old photos that have a special place in our hearts and you make them totally private if you want to!”

Take a look at some of Friends Reunited’s favourite photo memories of celebrity couples past and present.

ENDS

*Opinium Research carried out an online survey of 2013 UK adults aged 18+ from 26 – 28^th June 2012.

** 43% of UK adults (49,969,000 people) = 21.62 million

For further information, please contact:

Lisa Elliott / Jemma Green

Lansons Communications

lisae@lansons.com / jemmag@lansons.com

Direct dial: +44 (0)207 294 3679 / 3642

Carolynne Bull-Edwards

brightsolid

cbull-edwards@brightsolid.com

Mobile: 07932723866

About Friends Reunited

Friends Reunited is the original social network with over 24 million members. Launched in 2000 as a back-bedroom hobby to put old school friends back in touch, it swiftly became a British media phenomenon. Today, the site has evolved to celebrate every blast from the past, becoming a central part of the brightsolid mission to safeguard the nation’s history.

About brightsolid

brightsolid began life in 1995 as Scotland Online.  It now has two divisions; brightsolid online publishing and brightsolid online technology. brightsolid online technology is a leading UK independent provider of online IT business services.  brightsolid online publishing has a number of innovative online businesses around people and places including Friends Reunited and leading family history brands Genes Reunited, ScotlandsPeople and the findmypast global network.

The family history sites deliver access to over a billion records dating as far back as 1200. Family historians can search for their ancestors among global collections, relating primarily to people with UK and Irish ancestry, of military records, census, migration, occupation directories, and current electoral roll data, as well as birth, marriage and death records.

brightsolid was awarded The National Archives’ contract to digitize and publish online the 1911 census for England and Wales, which it launched in January 2009. Most recently, in November 2011, the online innovation group launched the British Newspaper Archive in partnership with the British Library, to digitize up to 40 million pages of historic newspapers over the next 10 years, providing a unique insight into major events and key periods of historical international interest.

Headquartered in Dundee, the company is owned by the publishers D.C. Thomson, and also has operations in Edinburgh, London, Dublin, Sydney and Los Angeles.