And so that you are not caught out of the blue, prepare yourself by knowing the 15 most common excuses or things cheaters say when confronted. You will be amazed how cheaters get angry and upset when caught and questioned and all the weird things that come out of their mouths consequently.
How Do Cheaters React When Accused?
A classic example of how cheaters react when confronted would be Joe. Joe (name has been changed to protect privacy) confessed to us before seeking help from our counseling professionals. He said that when his last two girlfriends confronted him with the deep suspicion that he had cheated on them, he deliberately tried to convince them that they were imagining it. Toxic gaslighting at its very best. Beat that! Very smartly, he warped their sense of reality to make them second guess their doubts. He fed them false information to make them question their memory and perception of events. And what’s worse is that he got away with it. “They loved me so much and believed my lies but I feel awful about it and want to change this about myself”, he had written to us at Bonobology. Joe is a classic example of a person who showed guaranteed signs of cheating and he said some of the pretty shocking things that cheaters say when confronted. And eventually, he did get away with it.
How to confront a cheater?
Even knowing about the fact that your partner has cheated is heartbreaking, and thinking of how to confront them with it can be even more painful. And then seeing them get angry over you that you caught them, can blow away anyone’s patience for sure. This is why one is always left pondering, ‘how to confront a cheater?’ to make sure they don’t get away with it. How should you word it? You feel this rage within, should you go full throttle and bash the hell out of them? But then again, you love them and are committed to them still. Should you at least attempt to try and understand their point of view and thus be gentle? As painful, as the knowledge of your partner cheating is, it is even more challenging how to confront them with that information. The things the cheaters say when confronted can get even more confusing and painful, making the whole process quite miserable. You might be praying that this was your mistake or the person who told you so, but you know in your heart that it is true. You two had been drifting apart for a while anyway, so actually, this all seems to sort of add up. This whole experience can be truly confusing and extremely difficult. Most cheaters when confronted deny it unless you have solid proof and flash it in front of their eyes. Only then, you might actually see some kind of signs of cheater’s guilt. But even then they will try and come out with ways to make up for it, ‘it was a weakness of one night’, ‘the alcohol did it’, ‘they were under stress’. At this point, it is not on them but it’s on how you want to deal with it. On the other hand, it also sometimes happens so that cheaters don’t admit even when caught, and those can be the worst to deal with.
Ridiculous things cheaters say when confronted
We have received many stories where the cheaters blame the partner for instigating the cheating. They go on and say things like, ‘I never found her pretty or attractive, but you always said so, you made me do it!’ Yes, things cheaters say and do when caught can be quite crazy and may even make you doubt your part in it. Here are five confessions from women who say that it was their partners who cheated but they feel guilty! Without showing any signs of cheaters’ guilt, these men very conveniently shifted the blame on their partners. But one thing is for sure if this happens to you. You will suddenly feel that you perhaps did not know them at all, so strange this new side of theirs will seem.
15 Shocking Things Cheaters Say When Confronted
“My partner cheated and is now angry with me. Why do cheaters get angry when caught and what should one do next?” If you’ve faced such a situation, then do not fret at all. When you see are actually guaranteed signs of cheating and when cheaters are caught, they start making excuses about it and try to win over your confidence. But with our help, we will not let that happen to you as we will equip you with all the knowledge you need about things cheaters say when confronted so you know what to expect. How do cheaters react when confronted? The more deceitful ones try to send you on a guilt trip instead. It is thus important to prepare for what they will respond with before you confront your partner. Here are 15 shocking things cheaters say when confronted.
1. “It didn’t mean anything”
When you are confronting a cheating partner the first thing that he or she will do is to try to win your confidence back and tell you that it didn’t mean anything and that it was a fling of some sort. In this act, your partner admits to the act but shows that there were no feelings involved. A classic way to cover up. It is a way of making sure that the cheating episode doesn’t threaten your relationship with them, that the other thing was a random one-night stand, a mistake, maybe a moment’s weakness. They try and score a point by saying that at least they have owned up to it and that cheating happens in a marriage, and it’s no big deal. In other words, implying that it is not a huge issue and that you should move on. Well, wrong. What you should know is, that cheating is always a choice and your cheating partner has given in to the temptation. Who knows if they won’t do it again, or haven’t done it before you caught them?
2. “You were so distant” is one of the things cheaters say when confronted
It can be difficult to answer ‘how to confront a cheater’ when they end up turning the tables on you by saying this. When your partner blames you for being distant, they are playing the victim card. This happens most of the time when you have spotted the guaranteed signs of cheating and confronted them. The lines they will use are, ‘you were not there for me’, ‘I was lonely’, ‘I was tired of waiting for you’, etc. That even when you were there, you were emotionally unavailable. That you were not involved like they were and that hurt them. That is when this other person came along offering care and love and they just slipped incidentally. Your partner will try to make you believe that it was your fault. This can be one of the most shocking things a cheater can ever say, leaving you doubting yourself for the longest time. But remember this, cheating is always the fault of a cheater. No matter what a cheater might say, cheating is 100% their responsibility no matter how hard they try to pin it on you.
3. “I don’t know why I did it”
One of the most shocking things that cheaters say when confronted is that they didn’t know why they did it. They fail to come up with excuses and reasoning to justify their act of infidelity. They are in effect trying to tell you that they are as shocked by their own behavior as you are, so you can start to feel bad for them. How much can you blame them if they don’t understand what happened there? The classic answer to this is therapy. ‘Let’s take therapy’, perhaps you will offer, actually believing that they didn’t cheat on you because of bad judgment. Also, therapy can help you to get the truth from a cheating spouse in a solution-oriented way. This is their way out of cheating. They may also make it about their childhood, when they saw their parents cheat, or heard about it when they were young. While there may be some truth in this, it is important to figure out how to deal with it going forward.
4. “It was just flirting”
How to tell if your partner is lying about cheating? It’s hard to make out whether what they are saying is the truth or not. ‘You are being paranoid, what we have is just a bit of light-hearted teasing’, one lady wrote to us about how her partner had made her feel crazy when she confronted him for cheating. She let him give her all sorts of excuses and then flashed the message she had captured when she had cloned his phone. He had no words. How do cheaters react when accused? Cheating partners make you seem like the insecure one and call you obsessed. ‘They are just friends of mine, stop acting crazy’, they say to you casually. They tell you that you have read too much into nothing and this strains the relationship. But you have noticed the signs of cheating for too long. Haven’t you? Sometimes flirting can lead to something deeper. It is with flirting that many affairs begin. Flirting with someone who isn’t your partner is a big deal as well, especially when the one you are flirting with thinks it’s leading somewhere.
5. “It just happened”
Another thing that partners say when they are caught cheating is that it just happened. They portray that the cheating incident was something that wasn’t in their control. They call it a “drunken mistake” or a sudden encounter that they somehow had no control of. Well, do not fall for this. It’s just one of the ways how cheaters hide their tracks. On the flip side, is your cheating partner owning up to it? Are they taking any steps to ensure it does not happen again? In case they are trying to identify and work on things that led to this ‘happening’ then it is a good sign. Else, this episode is likely to be repeated and there will be another excuse. Another episode of them saying the most bizarre things to cover up their infidelity. Ask yourself, ‘If it was just a mistake then why did your partner not tell you about it?’ Moreover, is he/she still in contact with the person? Mistakes may happen once but if this has happened more than once is it a mistake then too? Was there any remorse before they were caught cheating or this is just because now they do not have a choice?
6. “It’s not what it looks like”
You have found the message, ‘Love you’ from the other person in their inbox and they say, ‘It’s not what it looks like, do not misunderstand things. What we have is platonic, almost sisterly (or brotherly). ‘ can’t believe that you would accuse me of this’, they would say and put you on the defensive. Classic cheaters’ behavior patterns and one of the classic things cheaters say when confronted. Everything that a cheater will say is their effort to discredit you. Remember when you confront your cheating partner offense is the best form of defense? So either it is just a passing emotional affection or somehow the situation was twisted and it seemed different from what it was. An emotional affair is also as devastating to a relationship as a physical affair. Intimacy is not always only sexual, it can be emotional too. Perhaps your cheating partner was intimate with someone else, but they did not get to the bed. This is one of the most common things cheaters say when they try to get to the technicalities to pass off their bad behaviour.
7. “I got bored”
After the honeymoon phase of a relationship wears off, things become mundane because of the routine. ‘We don’t have sex as we used to’, they say. Or, ‘We both have started taking things for granted, we are not a priority in this relationship for each other anymore’. Boredom is a big issue in relationships these days but it cannot be made the scapegoat for an affair. Don’t let it be one of the ways how cheaters hide their tracks and get away with it. The onus to keep the spark alive should be on both. Tell them that. Also, you have been bored too but you did not take the route, the route that will hurt them. Remember that getting bored of it is not telling on you, it is about them, do not throw yourself under the bus for their cheating. Getting bored of the relationship doesn’t justify him/her cheating on you.
8. “It was just sex”
And is that not bad enough? Think about a scenario when you catch your partner red-handed and he/she says that it was just sex, hard cold sex. Your partner cheated on you just to have “sex”. Is sex really such a small thing in a relationship? One woman wrote to us that her one-night stand with her gym instructor was like eating out in a good restaurant once in a while. But home is always home. As much as we should not judge, it is still considered cheating if her husband is not aware of it. No matter how it happens, infidelity is always painful, whether you were involved emotionally or physically – it is hurtful for the spouse who trusts you with all their might. And infidelity is avoidable. In other words, these people try and say that just because their bodies were involved not their emotions, it should not be a big deal. Ask them, did they know that ‘just sex’ would hurt you? See their expressions as they try and answer them. If they knew that it would hurt their partners and they still went ahead and had ‘just sex’, does it mean that they care more about their bodily pleasures than their commitment to you?
9. “I didn’t want to hurt you”
How do cheaters act when confronted? They act as if they care about you. When you confront your partner and talk about the signs of cheating in the relationship that you have been noticing, the classic thing you are very likely to hear is “I didn’t want to hurt you’. This is an excuse that a cheating partner will make is that they have not been happy in the relationship for a while but they didn’t want to hurt you. That the sex has not been great too but they let it be again because they didn’t want to hurt you because they cared about you. And now that you know, they are scared and angry because they know they have hurt you and so many other people because they have cheated. This way they actually want to make you responsible for the episode, making it one of the classic things cheaters say when confronted. They betrayed you and are now saying things that may be nice to hear, but are not really the truth. Think about whether your partner showed any sign of regret or guilt before you found out or confronted him. If he/she didn’t feel anything before being confronted then why is all the guilt coming out now?
10. “You cheated on me first”
Do not let them say this to you because this is perhaps this is one of the most shocking and hurtful things cheaters say. This is another level altogether, something that you may have never expected to hear after catching a cheating partner. There are instances where the accused will turn into the accuser. When you go to confront your partner about the cheating, he/she will start accusing you of cheating instead. He/she will bring up small incidents where he/she felt jealous and will begin to ask questions around them. Even if they know that you have not slept with them, they will say, ‘But you wanted to!‘ This is their way of demeaning you in their bid to remove the blame on themselves. Such a situation happens when your partner doesn’t feel guilty about his/her actions and tries to justify those by demeaning your character instead.
11. “I wasn’t thinking straight. He/she came onto me”
Nah, many cheaters don’t admit even when caught red-handed. They just try to blame it on other factors. The things cheaters say when confronted are varied. In cases where the cheating partner cannot find a way out, he/she will try to blame it on the person they are cheating with. They will tell you how they told the person that they were in a serious relationship or married but the person still kept seducing them. Your partner will try to play the victim card and try to portray that it was the other person who seduced them and then things went out of control. The truth is that your partner too was interested in this “other person” which led to the affair. As they say, it takes two hands to clap. Things cheaters say to basically show them as a victim could be far-fetched ideas of their own dirty mind. Can someone cheat if they do not want to? You got the answer!
12. “I’m not happy with you”
One of the awful and most hurtful things cheaters say when confronted is this. Your partner will say is that he/she isn’t happy in the relationship/marriage. They will blame it on the relationship/marriage and even ask you to get out of it. Your partner will admit to cheating on you and will also say that it has been a long since they have been planning to end the relationship with you. Your cheating partner felt unloved and unhappy, and instead of talking to you about it, decided to stray. So is being unhappy in a relationship a license to cheat? No, the solution is to try and build your relationship the way you want it to and cheating won’t help that cause. Just imagine how hard they have worked on hiding their tracks and getting all angry and in denial when you asked them if something was wrong . And now when confronted about their deeds, they have all the excuses ready. They will admit to not being happy and will say that the flaws in the relationship led them to find happiness elsewhere.
13. ” You’re being paranoid”
How do cheaters react when accused? You guessed it right. One of the things that cheaters say when confronted is that “You’re being paranoid”. They will outright deny the affair and will blame you for being insecure and jealous when you talk about signs of cheating in the relationship. Make sure that you catch your partner red-handed when you confront him/her because they will try to prove you wrong and buy themselves time to tie other loose ends. Your partner will try to make you feel that there’s nothing to worry about but follow your gut, and confront him/her with proof.
14. “It was in the past”
Things cheaters say when confronted can be truly ridiculous and this is one of them. “It’s over now. I love you.”, they say so casually without showing any ounce of signs of cheater’s guilt. If you’ve confronted your partner about something that happened in the past, make sure that it has ended. Some affairs end the moment the cheating partner realizes that it was a mistake and chooses to continue the relationship/marriage instead of continuing the affair. Your partner may be honest here when he/she tells you that it’s over. Forgiving your cheating partner is solely your decision. Listen to what your partner has to say about it and make a decision.
15. “I don’t love you anymore. I want an out’”
Sometimes when you confront your cheating partner, it gives them an opening to confess how they feel about you, and the relationship/marriage. Your partner may have begun cheating on you with a fling but that fling might have now turned into a love affair. Thus, making it one of the things cheaters say when confronted. They just needed a way to tell you about it and this confrontation has done just this. All relationships/marriages don’t promise a forever after and you need to understand it. This revelation may be painful but it saved you from a dead-end relationship/marriage. Confronting your cheating partner is painful, especially when you’ve seen your future with this person. But the signs of cheating in your relationship changed it all. Sometimes, partners tend to cheat on you but return to their relationship/marriage once they realize their mistake. Some cheating partners don’t regret their actions and come up with excuses to cover up their affair. And there are the partners that blame it on you when you confront them. Your partner may ask for forgiveness, promising you that he/she will never do it again. Whether or not to give them another chance is your decision.
