A man has taken to Reddit to reveal that he gave his wife permission to sleep with other men and immediately regretted it.

The man explained on the social media website that he was going through marital difficulties, and in an attempt to fix the situation, he told his wife he "didn't mind if she cheated on him".

He told the Reddit thread that he wanted her "to be happy and have fun", admitting that at this point in his life, he was struggling with his work.

However, as part of the suggestion, he told his wife that there were some conditions including no babies, STIs, and they could become monogamous again at any point. She was confused by the suggestion and asked him to repeat himself.

"I further f**ked up by saying she didn't have to tell me what she did," he wrote.

The man's wife then explained that a colleague at work had expressed a romantic interest in her, so he gave her permission to explore this potential connection. He said that within months, his wife had sex with her colleague.

A woman cheating on her colleague. [[imagecaption|| Credit: Alamy / Mladen Mitrinovic]]

The man wrote "I was upset but unwilling to admit that to her and I told her not to worry," and then began to make a bigger effort at home in order to impress his wife himself.

"I would try to be home and ready with food whenever she got back from work," he added.

He then explained that his wife had told him she was going to meet a friend out of state as they navigated her marital difficulties, writing: "I knew her friend was a nice person and it would be good for her to have a girls' weekend away from all this mess."

However, the man eventually discovered that she was going on a trip with her colleague, and he "begged her not to go, offered to pay any cancellation penalties, but she said she made a promise and was going to keep it."

When she came back, he asked her to break it off and she said "she would try."

He added: "Some days, she comes home a little late, and isn't hungry enough to eat the dinner I made for her, and I know she was with him."

The man then said that despite various attempts to win his wife back, he hadn't.

"I feel like such a failure," he concluded.

The story resulted in some tough love from the Reddit community.

One reader wrote: "I've read a lot of these and this one really just starts up wayyyyy deep into long term f**k ups, and then just skyrockets down from there.

Honestly, if I was this dude I'd cut my losses and move on. It's 100% on him but now he's just dragging the carcas of the relationship forward thinking a doctor is going to bring it back to life. [sic]"

A Reddit comment. [[imagecaption|| Credit: Reddit]]

A second wrote: "This was a master class in playing yourself."

A Reddit comment. [[imagecaption|| Credit: Reddit]]

A third questioned where the man's friends were.

A Reddit comment. [[imagecaption|| Credit: Reddit]]

Meanwhile, a fourth advised: "You would benefit from individual counseling, searching yourself to find out why you sabotaged this relationship. You may not be able to save your marriage, but you can save yourself.

"You will never have a healthy relationship with anyone until you've healed your own wounds that are inhibiting you from getting close to your own wife."

A Reddit comment. [[imagecaption|| Credit Reddit]]

Hopefully, this man has a better future ahead of him.

Featured image credit: Alamy / Donisl

Man says he gave his wife permission to sleep with other men - and immediately regretted it