"Are You a CEO, Director, or Founder interested in a Feature Interview?"
All Interviews are 100% FREE of Charge
When Michael Oschust and Stefania Meyer first met in 2004, both were already married to other people.
The two were in their 30s, lived in Ontario, Canada, and had been married for six and a half and eleven years, respectively, but neither marriage was working out.
Ossuth filed for divorce and was separated from his ex-wife in all respects except where legally permitted. We were estranged, but I was planning on waiting until we broke up. So that their young daughters could spend one last Christmas together as a family.
Oschust and Meyer met on Ashley Madison, a secret dating site for people in relationships who don’t want to be seen on other dating apps. The site’s slogan, “Life is short. Have an affair,” has been criticized for encouraging infidelity (its ads are often used by the government as a way to “speak to people who are not married”).Gross neglect“Family Values ​​and Public Morality”
The company also suffered a massive data breach in 2017, in which the names, addresses, payment details, and even nude photos of more than 30 million customers were leaked onto the internet.
Despite the criticism, Oschust and Meyer are grateful they found each other on Ashley Madison, and people are still signing up in droves: 4.6 million new people signed up worldwide in 2021, according to a customer demographics report released by parent company Ruby Life, the most recent data available.
Twenty years after cheating on their ex-lovers, Oschust, 55, and Meyer, 52, are married and co-own a house-painting business in Nova Scotia, but they have no regrets.
“Longing” for a partner with the same hobby
In 2004, Oshust, a former IT project manager, signed up for Ashley Madison because he was still married and wanted to be cautious about starting dating again.
Meanwhile, Ms. Meyer, a stay-at-home mom at the time, signed up just to see what was available. She said she was “fully aware” of what the site was advertising, but wasn’t looking for an affair.
They both “craved” to have “intellectual conversations” with someone who shared similar interests, Oschust said, and he also wanted simple things like someone to ask how his day was, something he said was missing in his previous marriage.
Most of the messages Mayer received on Ashley Madison were requests for nude photos and no-strings-attached sex, which she wasn’t interested in. But Oschust actually asked how she was doing, and after looking at his profile, she discovered they shared a love of rock music.
“I was intrigued, so I sent a quick message back, and we kept messaging each other. We had so much to talk about that I started dropping my kids off at school every day, rushing home and getting online just to chat with Michael,” Meyer told Business Insider.
As the weeks went by, Meyer realised she was beginning to sense “something special” with Oschust.
“I was scared because I’m not technically a cheater,” she said, “but it just felt really strange. It even felt natural.”
Our relationship has grown since we met in person
Six weeks after meeting online, the two met in person at a coffee shop in October 2004.
“I opened the door, I gave her a nice kiss, and it was the best feeling I’d ever felt in my life at that moment,” Oschust said.
They spent several months together secretly, often talking on the phone and with Meyer attending Oschust’s hockey games.
But in mid-November, Meyer’s husband learned of the affair after reading her emails.
“He called me and said, ‘I know what’s going on, I know where you are,’ and then he was obviously upset and essentially kicked me out and said that was it,” she said.
After the dust settled and the divorce was finalized, Meyer’s ex-husband told her he knew something was wrong because she had suddenly become more energetic and more concerned about her health.
Oschust and Meyer soon began living together, but continued to live near her children, who were 5 and 7 at the time.
Meyer’s children no longer speak to her.
Meyer had maintained a relationship with her daughters since they were children, but seven years ago they stopped speaking to her and have blocked her “about everything,” she said, which she called “the hardest part of it all.”
Most of her other family and friends also “blacklisted” her.
“When something like this happens, you see exactly who your friends and family are, and, yeah, they turn on you,” she said.
She and Ossuth married at sunset on the beach in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 2007, accompanied by two friends.
Oschust and Myers know cheating is wrong, but they have no regrets.
“I don’t regret meeting Michael at all, but maybe I regret a little bit that it happened so suddenly,” Meyer said, “but you can’t change what happened.”
She added, “It was cheating and we both know that. We’re not proud of it. But at the same time, if it weren’t for Ashley Madison, we wouldn’t be together, so in a weird way, we’re grateful.”
They don’t think Ashley Madison is inherently bad, just see it as a tool.
“If your relationship has reached a point where you need something outside of your marriage, you will find it,” Oschust said.
Twenty years on, the couple are still married and “I’ve never been happier,” Meyer said, adding, “I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
"Elevate Your Brand with an Exclusive Feature Interview!"