A man in Hove with seven wives is the star of a new documentary to be screened next week.
Technically speaking they are not all his wives, polygamy is banned in this country. But in every other respect Karyn, Hannah, Margo, Chava, Tracey, Vreni and Judith are all married to antiques dealer Philip Sharp. A wife for every day of the week, as the Telegraph said.
Meanwhile, in America the latest hit show on HBO is Big Love, a drama about a Mormon with three wives. The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints accuses the show of reinforcing old stereotypes about Mormons, but real life polygamists like the show and praise its realism. It is also attracting millions of viewers and much chatter.
According to a psychologist, one of the reasons for the interest in such stories is that we are all "slightly bigamous".
In Britain polygamy is tolerated if you have several spouses from marriages in other countries where polygamy is legal. Indeed you can even claim tax credits here as a "polygamous unit". Muslim groups have called for polygamy to be legalised to help protect women in polygamous marriages whose husbands die without leaving a will.
There is little prospect of changing our monogamous society, even if, as some argue, it is unnatural. Psychologist and zoologist David Barash argues that there is plenty of anthropological evidence to show that that infidelity, if not polygamy, is instinctive. But he concludes that monogamy is the worst possible system, until you consider the alternatives.
