Most men are attracted to their nannies – study

Kamcilla Pillay

WOMEN hired to look after children are fast becoming an object of desire, an online survey found.

Following a trend made popular by Hollywood actors, online infidelity website Victoria Milan found that of the 3 652 male members surveyed, more than 80 percent admitted to being attracted to their nannies.

“2015 marked the end of two high-profile celebrity marriages because of affairs with nannies: Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale, and Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner both fell victim to nannies,” said the website.

“Previously, Jude Law and Sienna Miller and Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke suffered from affairs with au pairs, and Arnold Schwarzenegger outdid all the cheating Hollywood husbands by secretly raising a son with his housekeeper,” said the website.

They found that nine out of every 10 men strongly believed their wife chose an unattractive nanny to reduce the chance of temptation. However, a pretty face was not the first thing that attracted a cheater to the nanny.

“(The most attractive thing) about nannies that attracts married men to them is the care and tenderness they display towards the man’s children, according to 28% of cheaters surveyed.

“Less than 20% say they are interested in the nanny because she’s fresh and youthful (19%); easily accessed because she is always in the home (18%); or that she is forbidden fruit (13%).”

Founder and chief executive of the website Sigurd Vedal said the survey showed that cheating husbands – even in Hollywood – were looking for something new.

“The nanny is someone new and exciting, and that turns on cheating husbands. The fact that men are most attracted to how she cares for their children shows that they are looking for someone loving.”

Psychologist Kevin Fourie said there was rarely one dynamic at play in relationships between an employer and an employee.

“It really is different for different people. Sometimes it’s mutual and sometimes it’s a case of imposition because one person is in a position of power,” he said.

There were situations where there were feelings of mutual attraction.

“Given the opportunity, both parties, because they are attracted to one another, will act on their feelings.”

He said that women and men in positions of power could take advantage of their subordinates. “This by no means applies to just one gender.”

He said the advances could even come from the employee herself. “She could be eyeing the house on the hill.”

He said the survey seemed to conflate attraction and the acting upon the feelings of attraction. “Most red-blooded (straight) males will obviously be attracted to a young, beautiful woman. But just because they are, doesn’t mean they will want to act on those feelings, given the opportunity.

“My wife finds George Clooney attractive, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to jump into bed if she meets him!”

Fourie said attraction took place on “multiple levels”.

“Sometimes it’s more than the physical. Intellectual stimulation and the nanny’s role in the home as a mother figure might also be attractive.”