'I made fun of my boyfriend for liking scented candles - now he won't talk to me'

Many of us will have very different interests than our other halves, and we might not always get why they love something that we personally find to be as dull as dishwater.

However, relationships are all about compromise, and - to a reasonable extent - we should always try and be supportive of our partners' various quirky hobbies..

One woman now feels guilty after her boyfriend, Mike, overheard her making fun of his love of "dopey scented candles " during a phone call with a friend.

The 25-year-old woman had no idea that he was in earshot at the time, and, given how he reacted, she's worried that she might have taken her joke too far.

He overheard her mocking him while chatting with a friend (Stock Photo) (Getty Images/Westend61)

Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter here.

Taking to Reddit, the concerned girlfriend wrote: "Mike has some interests that some might typically consider girly but if they make him happy I’m all for it.

"I like doing knitting and stuff like that and he’ll always ask if he can do it with me and I’ll say yes and show him how to do it and he’s always super interested and wants to learn and stuff like that".

She continued: "Anyway, recently Mike's gotten really into scented candles. I just think it’s kind of funny how into them he is because they’re kind of lame.

"But anyway, right before he left I was on the phone with my friend and said 'yeah Mike's going to get those dopey scented candles'.

"He was in earshot and I didn’t realise. He got offended and left looking super upset. I texted him but he said he didn’t wanna talk because he thinks I was being mean".

Although she believes that Mike, 24, is being "oversensitive" about the whole situation, she is now worried that she "missed the mark" somewhat with her joke.

One fellow Reddit user advised: "Dude you've got yourself a good boyfriend, the kind that wants to engage in your hobbies and does their own crafty stuff, and you decided to belittle him?

"Please don’t, don’t call his hobbies girly, respect the man and drop your bulls**t 'this is not for men'. People thinking like that is what gave us toxic masculinity. Stop propagating it to the few that actually want to express themselves. He’s too good for you".

Another wrote: "This man is taking interest in things that are against the social norm and is probably really self-conscious about it. You were the person he thought had his back and then you go and make jokes to your friends. Of course, he's hurt.

"Apologise and get this man a nice Yankee candle and hope he forgives you and maybe someday he'll trust you enough to start sharing his interest in things again".

Do you have a relationship-related story to tell? We pay for stories. Email us at julia.banim@reachplc.com