Over half British married couples regret saying "I do"

In a survey conducted on 4,000 British married couples, over 50 per cent said they have felt regret at some point with regards to their marriage.

According to the survey one in four couples (26 per cent) admitted feeling once or twice that they had made the wrong decision in getting married, 19 per cent felt this way sometimes, and 6 per cent said they spent most of the time feeling they had made a mistake.

The most popular reason for lamenting marriage is the loss of independence, while over a fifth of those experiencing regret blame the monotony of married life, the Daily Mail reported.

A quarter of regretful British husbands and wives admit to thinking they married the wrong person, while 11 per cent of spouses who regret marriage said they are attracted to someone else.

In the survey, ten per cent confessed they are simply no longer physically attracted to their partner.

Many couples who took part in the survey, conducted by independent body OnePoll on behalf of married persons dating website IllicitEncounters.Com, stated they regretted getting married even before the first year was over; a shocking 11 per cent regretting getting married on their actual wedding day.

"People's expectations are changing when it comes to relationships," Rosie Freeman-Jones, IllicitEncounters spokesman, said.

Whereas 30 years ago people were much more happy to "grin and bear" their marriages, and settle for something stable, today we live in an era of choice where people are socially and financially mobilised.

"We're not accustomed to settling any more, in any area of our life." the spokesman said.