A UK couple have spilled the beans on practising ‘kitchen table polyamory’, revealing there is only one rule when it comes to having sex with different partners
Charlize Storm’s relationship might seem unconventional but the bride-to-be insists it’s the healthiest love match she’s ever experienced.
The 50-year-old encourages her boyfriend Matt Johnson to bring other women home for sex and she’s even happy to make small talk with them in the morning.
“This is the healthiest relationship I’ve ever been in,” she said. “I’d absolutely recommend it to other people. People think polyamory is all about sex, but it’s about the emotional connection. Your emotional and sexual needs aren’t necessarily tied.”
The support worker first tried an open relationship when her 23-year marriage ended three years ago. In July 2022, she then met her partner Matt on a dating app while on holiday in New Zealand.
READ MORE: ‘I’m married with a child but date other people – trolls feel bad for my husband’
Matt, 44, was also keen on polyamory – a desire for romantic relationships with more than one person at the same time with the informed consent of all involved – making it a match made in heaven. A year later, the store assistant relocated to England to be with mum-of-two Charlize.
Both members of the couple are in a long term relationship with other polyamorous people – Charlize says she has juggled as many as four partners at the same time, while Matt has been involved with three.
The mum-of-two from Chesterfield, Derbyshire, said the couple practise ‘kitchen table polyamory’ where partners form close, friendly relationships with their other partners, often sharing meals and space together.
“Because me and Matt have come into our relationship as poly, it’s a lot easier because we’re able to date other people and be honest with our partner,” she said. “Polyamory allows me to be totally myself, it just felt natural to me.”
“Charlize and I have really good chemistry, we have similar ideals,” said dad-of-three Matt. “Every connection is different. You will find a person that is polyamorous that requires things that you can’t always deliver on and the beauty of that is that they find another partner who can deliver on those.”
Charlize admitted she sometimes feels jealous about Matt’s partners and said she deals with it by communicating. “I come to Matt with that and he gives me reassurance,” she said.
“For me, I form emotional connections really quickly so it isn’t just about sex at all,” she added. “I consider other people that I’m in a relationship with my partners.
“If Matt told me he’d fallen in love with someone else, I’d be super excited for him and also want her to be my bestie. I’m friends with one of his partners in New Zealand. He had another partner last year that I consider my friend.
“What we like sexually isn’t tied to our relationship style. It’s never a requirement but it’s something we’re open to.”
The couple have one boundary – that condoms are used with new partners, with STI tests needed before this situation changes.
“If we go on a date and sleep with the person, we tell our partner that we have consummated that relationship,” said Charlize. “We don’t have our bed, we have my bed and his bed and who I invite to my bed is my business and vice-versa.”
“If one of us brings someone back, we can all be eating breakfast together the next morning.”