It turns out that the groom and his best men aren’t the only ones who let loose in the lead up to the big day, with plenty of brides getting sexy with a striper on their hens night. 

Aussie stripper turned OnlyFans star Nath Wyld has lifted the lid on what goes down at bachelorette parties and says things are wilder than you'd imagine. 

“Bucks parties definitely do get the bad rep, but I've definitely seen some hens parties that are just as bad,” he tells Body+Soul. “I think it's just the whole group mentality. It doesn’t matter if you're a man or a woman, once you get a group of people together in that party scene and everyone’s having a good time being drunk, it’s like, ‘Oh, no one will ever know’, and things just progress that way.”

That way is often all the way with Wyld revealing that about one in 10 brides cheat on their hen’s do. 

“A kiss here and there, some people would say that's cheating, but I'm not counting that as part of this,” the 31-year-old explains. “It’s never happened to me, but I’ve heard stories of the bride cheating with people I know. From sexual acts to actual sex, I've heard that happen multiple times, and there’s definitely stories of it going all the way that's for sure. 

“I can’t say it’s common, but it’s not just once in a blue moon. It definitely happens regularly.”

Brides “don’t care”  

Wyld, who was a carpenter before he fell into stripping about 10 years ago, says that when it comes to brides-to-be, “some don't really care that they're about to get married”. 

“Especially if they're in a different state or if the stripper has travelled to a different state, it's sort of like, ‘Oh, I’ll never see him again, it's a one off, it doesn't mean anything, it's okay’,” he explains. “It's not like they've gone to a bar and met someone who lives around the corner and there's a chance that it could progress and turn into something else. It's a very ‘one off and never again’ sort of thing.”

As for those who are worried their friends might see and dob them in, Wyld says there’s plenty that goes on undercover.  

“I know of times where one person didn’t want anyone else to know so it had to be secret and kept from everyone else,” the stripper says. “It definitely happens towards the end of the night when the woman is like, ‘Oh, I’m leaving’, and the stripper goes with them.”

It was also a pretty popular move after performances when Wyld toured the country with the Magic Men stage show. “The bride would come to the show and see the stripper and then they would secretly leave the show afterwards with the stripper,” he says. 

Why do women do it? 

There are many reasons why brides might hook up with a stripper at their hens party. 

#1. They're dealing with a lot of outside pressure 

“When you think about these stereotypical bachelor and bachelorette parties, they’re usually these very sexualised events and everyone’s feeling hot and sexy, but the bride especially in being the centre of attention,” Selin Nguyen, a relationships therapist and sexpologist tells Body+Soul. “Then people are making all these jokes about having this one penis or this one vulva for the rest of the bride’s life. 

“There’s also usually a lot of pressure on the bride about the wedding itself and all the events needing to be perfect. So this party can act as a release valve for a lot of that pressure. None of these excuse or justify the cheating, but this mental cocktail of alcohol and pressure and getting caught up in the event can have you losing track of what you actually want or your values.”

#2. They’re struggling with their changing identity

“There is a bit of a myth out there that men want freedom and women want to settle down, and that all a little girl dreams of is to get married one day,” relationship and intimacy coach Susie Kim tells Body+Soul. “But what's not spoken about as much is how women can also really struggle with what getting married means to them. I've certainly had clients who’ve really felt – even though they wanted to get married – that loss of freedom and change in their identity in terms of being a married woman versus an unmarried woman. I think it can feel daunting or seem like the loss of a youthful part of their life or their identity, or a loss of that chance to be wild and irresponsible.”

#3. They’re mourning their freedom 

“There are a lot of societal and family expectations that come for some women with marriage,” the relationships expert explains. “So I imagine that for some women when they get a very exciting hot strip dance from a super hot, lovely guy, they could be expressing that fear of the loss of freedom – whether they’re aware of it or not – in this way where they get to be free for a night and have this really exciting, wild, very irresponsible experience. Even if they completely regret it the next day, I can imagine that it might just flare up in this context of having an alcohol fueled, very hot, exciting sexual experience with somebody.”

#4. They’re having problems in their relationship

“I think it could also be related to tensions or issues in the relationship,” says Kim. “Obviously, the lead up to a wedding can bring up a lot of stress, and it can also bring up a lot of dynamics in the relationship. A lot of couples argue before a wedding. There can also be bigger issues involving family and the family involvement and values and all that kind of stuff. 

“So I think it’s possible that receiving that kind of attention from a really hot, lovely stripper and then choosing to go further with them could really just be a bit of an escape, because women often don't really get that kind of an opportunity. Like, yes, there's a lot of opportunity to pick up, but there aren't that many male strip clubs and women aren't really used to having a naked man dance in a really skillful, hot way, and slide right up to their body. So I can see how it can really take you over when there are underlying issues or fears.”

#5. They want to live the fantasy. 

“And then, finally, it's really just that excitement and fantasy element of a male stripper, right?” the intimacy coach suggests. “Because I think there's a lot of joking about hot firefighters and men in uniform and blah, blah, blah, but again it's that added element of excitement and taboo that can amp things up for women and lead to something that seems so contrary to a woman about to get married.”

Does a badly-behaved bride mean the marriage is doomed?

No, according to both the relationship experts. 

“If it’s something that wasn’t agreed upon between partners beforehand, any sort of cheating is of course not a strong foundation to begin any new relationship or marriage,” Nguyen says. “But it doesn’t inherently mean that the marriage is doomed. I’ve seen many folks work through infidelity together and come out the other side stronger, but that always requires a lot of honesty and rebuilding of that trust.”

However Kim warns that it could reflect a pattern of dishonesty, disregard or contempt towards the bride’s partner, or even her fears around getting married. 

“It definitely points to some deep, deep work and deep reflection and investigation that needs to be done, at least by the bride with a therapist, or if not, with a couple together, or both,” she says. “Because obviously cheating on your husband right before marriage comes from somewhere and reflects either ways that you deal with stress, underlying issues that haven’t been addressed, or a big fear around – even if it’s been subconscious – getting married and what that means for changing identities.” 

But she insists that it doesn’t mean that the marriage is condemned to fail. “It could be that the bride still completely loves her partner and really wants to be married,” she says, “but I think it basically forces the bride and the couple to look at what is actually happening for the bride and in the relationship as well.”