Having happily lived alone for more than 20 years, Diana Luke had no desire to move in with her partner - despite being together for 14 years. In fact, the 69-year-old, from Sheffield, admits she’d even go as far as saying having separate houses and bedrooms could be fundamental to making a relationship work.
When Diana, a radio presenter, first met her partner Tim Hollingworth, 68, in 2008, they were both getting over relationships with “people who had a lot of drama”, so they decided to keep their individual homes. However, with the recent rise in the cost of living, both Diana and Tim thought it would make sense to only have one set of bills, instead of two, so they started to look for a joint property.
Although they’re both in agreement about one thing in that their new home must have separate bedrooms and Diana even argues that intimacy isn't compromised - creating 'sexual titillation.' And they're not alone. A survey of 1,000 people aged over 65 by Boom Radio revealed almost half (46 per cent) said sleeping in different bedrooms is vital to keeping the spark alive, with 24 per cent saying they regularly decamped to the spare room.
