A BRADFORD hairdresser’s secret affair with a rich married banker was exposed by her best friend after gossip shared by pals filtered back to her husband.

Sarah, 31, who lives in Barkerend, was eventually caught red handed by her husband Ian who followed her to a bar where she was meeting her lover Alex for a date.

Ian had been tipped off by a male friend who heard the news from his wife - part of Sarah and Ian’s friendship group.

Now Sarah’s marriage is in crisis and she does not know if it will survive because she cannot give up her rich lover.

She has had four affairs after meeting her lovers on IllicitEncounters.com, a UK extra-marital dating site.

Sarah said: “I got found out because my best friend Dawn could not keep a secret.

“I told her about Alex and swore her to secrecy.

“It felt a bit like being 14 again and excitedly telling my mates at school about a new boyfriend.

“Only there were far more consequences to sharing the news this time.

“Dawn swore she had not told anyone else but eventually broke down and admitted that she had confided in a woman at her gym.

“The news spread quickly amongst our gang of pals and my husband was tipped off by one of his male friends.

“He knew he would need evidence so he secretly followed me to a bar where I was meeting Alex for a drink.

“He walked straight over, sat down next to us and said: ‘Fancy seeing you here!'

“Alex was crest-fallen and thought Ian was going to chin him. He got up straight away and said, ‘I am going to leave you two to it’ before scarpering.

“We had a heart-to-heart about the marriage which has been rocky for a while.

“I made the mistake of marrying my childhood sweetheart and things had got a bit boring after 16 years together.

“Ian begged me to make a fresh start and I have agreed to do that for now. Alex is keen to cool it for a few months because he is worried that his wife will find out.

“But I know that I won’t be able to give him up. The excitement of the affair is too intoxicating.”

Sarah has been having affairs for the last three years through the website.

She said: “I just wanted some discreet excitement with someone on the same page as me.

“I had an affair with a chef patron who runs his own restaurant near me. That was fun and the food was great. We used to meet on Mondays at his when his restaurant was closed and I had a day off from the hairdressers.

“It fizzled out after six month. I had a brief fling with a local barman who was 10 years younger than me before falling for a dad who works in digital marketing.

“We saw each other for about a year before things got a bit boring again.

“With all these affairs, I didn’t tell a soul because I was terrified that my secret would be shared.

“With Alex, I was a little more brazen because it was the fourth affair and I really didn’t think I would get caught. I under-estimated the power of gossip.”

Sarah was speaking after a new survey revealed that one in six love cheats have had their affair exposed by a friend.

It found that 16% of people playing away are caught out because they confide in pals about their affair and the news gets back to their regular partner.

A third of cheats (37%) get a friend to cover for them so they can see their lover.

The most common cheating alibi is playing or watching sport - chosen by 37% of men who use football as a cover and 26% of women who pretend they are at the gym while seeing their lover.

The vast majority of people having affairs (87%) do confide in at least one friend about their new relationship.

Three-quarters of love cheats (74%) worry about being caught out and are careful to cover their tracks.

A third of cheats (32%) have been followed by their suspicious partners while conducting an affair.