{"id":16844,"date":"2026-07-22T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-22T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/?p=16844"},"modified":"2026-07-21T16:21:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T16:21:20","slug":"shocking-relationship-trend-rising-in-popularity-could-destroy-intimacy-but-should-you-try-it-once","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/2026\/07\/22\/shocking-relationship-trend-rising-in-popularity-could-destroy-intimacy-but-should-you-try-it-once\/","title":{"rendered":"Shocking relationship trend rising in popularity could ‘destroy intimacy’ – but should you try it once?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Can a ‘bedroom divorce’ ever be ‘sexy’? Olivia Wilde thinks so<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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The trend is a lot more popular than you might think.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Words Nikki Peach<\/h6>\n\n\n\n
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An unspoken downside to being in a long-term relationship is having to share a bed with someone else every night. Half the bed space, double the body heat, twice the noise. Understandably, everyday bed sharing also means it\u2019s sometimes difficult to associate the space with romance and intimacy, rather than comfort and function. Before long, many couples find themselves stuck in a rut, sleeping badly and unsure of what to try next.
 
Enter \u2018bedroom divorce\u2019, a trend recently endorsed by actor and director Olivie Wilde who said it sounds \u2018kind of sexy\u2019 while on The Louis Theroux podcast. Wilde was there to discuss her latest film, The Invite, which centres an unhappily married couple, Angela (played by Wilde) and Joe (played by Seth Rogen), who invite their upstairs neighbours round for dinner, not knowing where the evening would take them.
 
\u2018I think that there\u2019s this really unfair thing, this assumption that women don\u2019t want as much sex as men,\u2019 Wilde told Theroux. When asked how much sex she thinks is \u2018normal\u2019, the actor replied to say the real answer is that \u2018no sex is not normal\u2019. Theroux agreed, suggesting in those instances \u2018it might be a friendship\u2019 and Wilde said that indeed a lack of intimacy makes couples seem more like \u2018roommates\u2019 than romantic partners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Theroux then introduced The Invite star to the concept of a \u2018bedroom divorce\u2019, when couples actively choose to sleep in separate bedrooms in order to have their own space, sharing a bed only when they are both looking for intimacy, which she seemed fully on board with. \u2018I don\u2019t know, I think that\u2019s kind of sexy,\u2019 she replied. \u2018I\u2019m intrigued by that. You could, you could invite her over in a way that allows for maybe there\u2019s a little bit of mystery in there. I think that\u2019s interesting.\u2019
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\u2018In American culture, why do we think \u201cOh, we\u2019re so intimate. We know everything. I know everything about him. He knows everything about me. That means we\u2019re really close?\u201d\u2019 she continued. \u2018It\u2019s like, are you close? Are you close, or do you feel an entitlement to this person\u2019s private life because that makes you feel somehow safe? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘And does that work for you in one way but inherently remove the necessary erotic charge that keeps you interested in this person? And is that one reason why so many marriages fail? Maybe.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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According to the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (ASSM), more than 30 percent of couples have opted for a \u2018bedroom divorce\u2019 or \u2018sleep divorce\u2019, with couples aged between 35 and 44 most likely to test it out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018As clinicians, we\u2019ve seen our patients and their spouses become more intentional about their sleep environment as they try to improve their sleep health. Often, this includes a conversation about separate sleep spaces to accommodate temperature preferences or even ambient lighting and noise,\u2019 ASSM spokesperson Dr Seema Khosla explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018When our sleep is compromised due to a disruptive partner, resentment can grow. Poor sleep also leads to diminished empathy, patience and understanding. Rather than fostering a poor sleep environment for appearances, a thoughtful conversation with the bed partner can result in a stronger relationship, since each partner is achieving more restful sleep,\u2019 Khosla continued. \u2018The key is to communicate preferences and be intentional about spending time together before retiring to separate sleep spaces.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘you could invite her over in a way that allows for maybe a little bit of mystery in there’<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There are many things that might lead to \u2018bedroom divorce\u2019, not just a lack of intimacy or flagging romantic connection. \u2018Couples may choose a sleep divorce because of snoring, different sleep schedules, frequent movement, temperature preferences, or other nighttime disturbances,\u2019 says Jay Vera Summer at The Sleep Foundation. The reported benefits are endless, including fewer sleep interruptions, better sleep quality, and more total sleep. Some couples also find bedroom divorce improves their overall relationship satisfaction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day, our sleep is paramount to our health, and something\u2019s got to give. According to a Loughborough University study, 77% of us don\u2019t wake up feeling well-rested (something that isn\u2019t helped by heatwaves), with one in seven people surviving on dangerously low levels of sleep (less than five hours). It\u2019s no wonder that the subsequent exhaustion and low mood this causes leads to myriad other problems, including in our romantic relationships.
 
For any couple to seek out a solution that could both improve their sleep quality and their relationship is incredibly admirable \u2013 whether that leads to bedroom divorce or not.
 
However, those gawking at the idea of sleeping apart from their partner (and those who simply can\u2019t afford to do so) need not worry either. Per a University of Hertfordshire study, 94 percent of couples who make physical contact during sleep were happy with their relationship, compared with 68% of those who don\u2019t touch. And the happiest couples were those who sleep face to face.
 
As with almost everything, there is no one size fits all solution. Every couple is different and should endeavour to figure out what is best for them \u2013 whether that means entirely separate rooms, bunk beds or sleeping cheek to cheek for eternity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Photos: Unsplash and<\/strong> Getty<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Countless couples are trying it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":16853,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-feature"],"acf":{"article_authors":"Nikki Peach","send_as_draft":false,"send_as_paid":true,"send_as_featured":true},"modified_by":"guestgrazia","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16844"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16844\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16946,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16844\/revisions\/16946"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flatplanplus.io\/graziav2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}