It's not your stereotypical "happily ever after" but one couple say having sex with strangers has saved their marriage.
Paulina Tenner, 37, and her husband, Daniel, 41, from Hackney, east London, had been married four years when the topic arose.
Paulina, 37, realised she was attracted to both men and women and told Daniel she was keen to explore this dynamic.
She used to work as a burlesque dancer which she says started her sexual awakening.
After opening up to her partner, she was reassured that he was happy for her to explore this side of her sexuality.
Over time, this saw both partners starting to have sex with other people - and they say it has taken their relationship from strength to strength.
Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter here
The couple is actively considering having a family at the moment and say they would be honest with their child about their situation.
Paulina said: "It wouldn't affect our relationship and we would still be open about our life with our child if we decided to start a family.
"It's healthy to tell a child that you can love many people in life, rather than just one person forever. We know some amazing poly parents.
"We believe there is a social good in sharing our story."
The couple opened their relationship in 2017 after four years of marriage, and say it strengthened their relationship.
"Dating outside of our marriage has improved our relationship because it has enabled us to identify how we function within relationships, what we're good at and not so good at," added Paulina.
"It has also helped us become more aware of our desires and boundaries, and therefore we can be more clear with each other about what we enjoy sexually and in relationships.
"This has been very helpful for us, especially after being together since 2009.
"Human and sexual connection is one of the best things that life has to offer, and therefore we feel like we would be betraying each other if we were holding the other person back from this.
"We know that we can't give each other absolutely everything we need, and seeing other people helps avoid placing an expectation on the other to fulfil all our needs.
"We have so much desire for the other to enjoy life to the fullest.
"It would be great if more people were aware of the fact that there are many different models of relationships that can be healthy and fulfilling.
"It doesn't just have to be one person for the rest of your life. That works for some people and it can be beautiful, but it isn't the only successful relationship model."
After Paulina revealed in 2016 that she was keen to explore her attraction to women, they separately attended tantric and relating workshops.
This started to open them up to the ability to connect romantically and sexually with others, said Paulina.
She added: "I also used to be a burlesque dancer which I think started my sexual awakening.
"I have even written a book, called Laid Bare: What the Business Leader Learnt from the Stripper, about how my journey as a burlesque dancer led to my relationship with sexuality and sensuality and made me a more integrated and powerful leader in business.
"I discovered I was bi-curious and after openly communicating this with Daniel and finding out he was comfortable with it, I went on a journey of exploring connections with other women
"At first I was anxious about how he would respond as I didn't want him to think I was a secretly lesbian and going to leave him, but he didn't feel threatened.
"In the beginning, Daniel wasn't comfortable with me seeing other men.
"But after lots of self-development, we are both at a place in our relationship where we communicate skilfully and clearly and don't have to rely on rules.
"Being transparent and open with each other is the key to our relationship, we talk about everything whereas some people have a don't see and don't tell approach but every poly couple is different.
"Opening our relationship it has brought more juiciness and beauty to our lives.
"It has even brought us closer together because we have so much more to discuss and share with each other now.
"And we also learnt to focus on protecting the time that we spend together."
While the couple says that polyamory has improved their relationship, they have also faced some struggles when adapting to this model of relationship.
Daniel said: "We have started focusing on protecting our time together because we got to a point where we were dating quite a lot of people and not prioritising us.
"So we closed our relationship for a little while so we could work out and resolve our problems. We experience bumps in the road in our relationship, as any couple does, but they are rarely because of being poly.
"We may go through phases of opening and closing the relationship but it is not likely that we will leave this behind now that we have explored it.
"We don't have problems caused by jealousy because we are both getting what we want and we aren't in fear of losing the other person.
"We feel joy when we see our partner feeling fulfilled by another relationship. In our books, if you really love someone you want them to be completely happy and have a wonderful life."
The couple believes that open relationships can help avoid betrayal and cheating that happens in monogamous relationships.
Paulina says that instead of being desperately unhappy and miserable in a monogamous relationship, people should realise that there are alternatives.
She added: "Instead of remaining in an unhappy relationship and cheating on your partner because you aren't fulfilling each other's needs, people should be more aware and accepting of open relationships and this is why we are speaking out about our story.
"I was even doubting myself at the beginning because I was brought up as a catholic and one of my values was to have one core relationship for life and it had been like that in my family for generations.
"I wasn't sure if I wanted to change that, but since doing so it has been the best both a gift and a growth opportunity."
