The five most common excuses cheating husbands tell their wives

Adultery enablers Illicit Encounters have revealed the most commonly used excuses unfaithful husbands give their wives, to hide their infidelity.

The UK's leading website for connecting people who want to have affairs surveyed 2000 of its users and found the most popular cover story used by men is:

1. 'I'm playing golf'

According to their results, 34 per cent of cheating husbands claim to have been golfing when they were actually having an affair with someone else. Perhaps this says more about the site's clientele than it does the efficacy of 'golf' as an excuse.

A spokesperson for the site, Christian Grant, explained the strength of this lie.

Saying that you’re going for a round of golf ticks all the boxes. Firstly, it covers you for several hours, especially if you’re playing 18 holes and not 9.

One respondent to the survey, referred to as 'Tony, 44' also gave some frugal tips for pulling off this huge betrayal of trust.

It doesn’t require much effort, really. But if you do want to go the extra mile, you can dish out on some relatively low-cost golf clubs, and maybe some gloves too, and that adds enough believability to your story that you’ve nothing to worry about.

Because you shouldn't have to put much effort into breaking your wedding vows.

The survey also found the other commonly used excuses:

1. Business meetings or working Late - 27 per cent

2. Going to the pub - 13 per cent

3. Going to the gym - 5 per cent

4. Shopping for groceries - 4 per cent

Meanwhile 17 per cent said 'other', liars being creative types who hate cliches and plausibility.

More: The age your partner is most likely to cheat on you, apparently

More: The behaviour that's even worse for a relationship than cheating