Jools Oliver, wife of celebrity chef, Jamie has revealed that she snoops on her husband's communications to see if he's being unfaithful. Evidently, she checks his emails, phones and Twitter. (Mind you, over 2.4-million followers also keep up with Jamie via Twitter so she shouldn't beat herself up about keeping tabs on him through that particular medium.)
Surprisingly, Jools has garnered considerable public sympathy over this matter. I'd have expected those hyper critical, often undiplomatic social media aficionados to give her a hard time but many of them have applauded her honesty and found her vulnerability endearing.
The approval, of course, was not universal. Jools "obsessively stalks him via every conceivable communication stream" wrote a blogger for The Guardian in Jools Oliver, here's why you shouldn't check Jamie's emails and tweets. The writer, who thought such snooping could easily lead to wrong conclusions being drawn, raised the issue of reciprocal rights: "Don't touch his phone. How would you like it if he touched your phone?" Good question: if I discovered someone spying on my emails and text messages I'd expect to be able to forensically examine their records as well.
Whichever side of the fence you happen to be on, you must admit it raises interesting questions about curiosity, privacy, self-confidence and trust levels within relationships.
How much nosiness is appropriate in a marriage? Do incurable sticky-beaks have more right to poke and pry than the rest of us? What about our rights to privacy? Does low self-esteem lead to doubting your partner or is her or his dodgy behaviour and less than pristine track record more of a factor?
