I threw a divorce party at a Dreamboys gig, seeing hot men strip drove me wild
THE club lights dim, the spotlights go up and the crowd goes wild as gym-honed hunks enter the stage.
The thumping music is drowned out by excited women heckling the dancers as they throw cash at the stage, demanding they strip off.
It is a Saturday night and this is one of the first Dreamboys shows post-lockdown, at the brand’s East London club, For Your Eyes Only.
Tonight, dozens of newly-single women are attending to celebrate the end of their marriages — and judging by the scenes unfolding it is going to be a wild night.
Forget hen dos, male strip shows are catering mostly for “divorce dos” these days.
Rhiannon Miller, 34, a mum and businesswoman from Caterham, Surrey, booked tickets for the show as she didn’t want to throw a “pity party” at home.
Downing a mojito, Rhiannon says: “Strip clubs are no longer a destination for just men — women are taking over.
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“Like the rest of the ladies here, I feel empowered to reclaim my independence and live on the wild side.
“So far tonight I’ve met lawyers, doctors and other successful women who are all in the same boat as me and are enjoying a new sense of sexual freedom. We are turning the game on its head. I’ve never felt so liberated.”
As Covid restrictions eased, the most popular male strip show in the UK saw a 20 per cent rise in women attending for divorce parties.
This is probably explained by an increase in the number of break-ups during the pandemic. Major law firms have reported that interest in divorces surged by 95 per cent post-lockdown. And this has been exacerbated by the school summer holidays.
'SO LIBERATED'
In a survey by the Ministry of Justice’s online divorce service, the last Monday of every September is the most common day for UK couples to decide to separate.
Experts say this is due to the financial and childcare pressures of the six-week holiday pushing couples to breaking point. Like many ladies who hold divorce parties, Rhiannon explains that this is her first ever Dreamboys show, but after a long and costly divorce she wanted to do something “wild”.
She says: “We’d grown apart and despite counselling, the marriage couldn’t be saved. We separated in June 2018 but I’ve spent the last two and a half years dealing with lawyers, barristers and all the stress of the divorce.
“When my legal fees hit £50,000 I stopped counting. I planned the divorce cake and the venues. I wanted to put my failed marriage behind me and cut loose.
“I also wanted to do something I’d never done before. That’s why I wanted my first divorce party to involve hot sexy men.”
At the show, the half-naked blokes with chiselled jaws and sculpted torsos pull giggling women on to the stage and treat them to erotic dances.
The women squeal with excitement as the men gyrate and thrust their manhoods in their faces. Event organiser Jennifer Hodgson is thrilled to see the boys back on stage.
“We are surprised at the demand for divorce parties,” she says. “But lockdown has put loads of pressure on relationships and, sadly, a lot of couples have split up. The Dreamboys will do their best to cheer everyone up and women always leave much more confident and relaxed than when they arrived.”
How women deal with divorce is changing, recent research shows. It found women want to celebrate their new freedom and let their hair down — a night with the Dreamboys allows them to do just that.
Leading divorce lawyer Paula Rhone-Adrien, who tweets from the account @familylawguruuk, says: “There has been a rise in enquiries from women attempting to understand their options and rights regarding divorce post-pandemic. Research shows that during the first lockdown, when both parents worked from home, women still did the brunt of the household tasks and most of the childcare even if they are trying to hold down a job.
“What they want is for their partner to take an equal share of childcare and household chores. When this doesn’t happen it causes friction between couples which often leads to break-ups.”
'TIRED OF ROWING'
Dreamboys is run by women so everyone from the bar staff to the adult entertainers are well-briefed on what ladies want — serving up fancy cocktails, champagne and, of course, hot dance moves.
Siobhan, 34, a PA from East London, points at her bare wedding ring finger and laughs, “good riddance”.
She explains how her relationship fell apart in lockdown but it had been a “long time coming”, adding: “I could have stayed married for the easy life but the truth is I was bored — tired of rowing over life’s mundanities and fed up sitting around watching Netflix together.
“Lockdown made me realise that we had drifted apart and become boring. I want to be single and free.”
Her story is reminiscent of actress Daisy May Cooper, 34, who recently called time on her 22-month marriage after reportedly growing “tired”.
The This Country star — who has children Pip, two, and Jack, nine months, with garden landscaper Will Weston — has since had a glamorous makeover and shared it on Instagram.
The truth is you have to work hard at marriages, especially during a pandemic when you are living together 24/7.
Siobhan says: “But it’s not like the old days when men were the main breadwinners and women stayed at home. If we are unhappy, we can leave.
“I think my ex-husband would be shocked if he saw what I’d been up to tonight — and that gives me a kick.”
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As the night draws to a close, excited women scribble their numbers in lipstick on the boys’ torsos. Will any of them call? Who knows, but the women certainly had a night to remember.
- Tickets start at £26. See dreamboys.co.uk
