Advocating their “ethically non-monogamous” lifestyle on TikTok, Danielle insists she’s okay with her husband seeing other women.
While the couple share two children, both of them can see other people romantically.
“Monogamy is not the point of a relationship,” Danielle told her 179,000 followers on TikTok.
“My husband and I are in a non-monogamous relationship; we have been for 14 years.”
Danielle continued: “My husband and I have been married for 10 years; I love living this life with him.”
And while she has openly accepted her husband’s initial request to open up the relationship, it hasn’t always been easy for her.
Speaking to Newsweek, Danielle revealed it was her husband’s idea to “date casually” outside of their relationship.
“I will confess, I did feel hurt when Rich [her husband] initially asked if I wanted to be in a non-monogamous relationship,” Danielle admitted.
“I had never even heard of it. But he wanted to ensure we would be together for a long time as we had an instant connection.”
Danielle agreed but said there would be two conditions to make the open relationship work for her.
One, Rich couldn’t get with friends of friends and, two, the other realtionships must happen outside of their home town.
Danielle explained: “Jealousy isn’t something to be proud of. When I feel jealous now, it’s often an indication that I need to work on myself or my husband and I need to work on something in our marriage.”
She affirmed that “honesty, transparency, and deep communication is required” for any relationship to work – including an ethically non-monogamous one.
But there is an element of “more jealousy” that can get in the way of non-monogamous relationships.
Danielle said: “People in open relationships often have to figure out how to process that jealousy.”
While accepting her lifestyle is different from other people’s, for people hoping to open up their own relationships, Danielle has some advice.
“Create rules and then re-evaluate,” she recommended. “And think of it like an adventure.”
