‘Deal-breaker’: Star shocked by wife’s bedroom request

David Campbell has shared the bedroom request his wife recently made that could’ve been “a deal-breaker” – and left him with “existential dread”.

David Campbell has shared the bedroom request his wife recently made that could’ve been “a deal-breaker”.

In his latest column for Stellar, out today, the Today Extra co-host revealed that “something happened” in his marital bed that he “was not ready for” – something “a lot of relationship experts don’t want to discuss”.

“From experience, though, let me tell you, it can be a deal-breaker. A doomsday clock on coupledom … Tick. Tick,” Campbell wrote.

“My wife recently broke her wrist while running. She recovered but for a while had a cast on her arm, and this turned our bed into a war zone – not for her, for me.

“There is no easy way to sugar-coat this: she asked me to swap sides. She needed to be on my side of the bed.”

David and Lisa Campbell. Picture: Instagram

Campbell – who has been with his wife for 17 years, and shares children Leo, Billy and Betty – identifies as someone who has “always” slept on the left side of the bed.

“So much so that, out of respect to [Lisa] – and habit – I just don’t veer to the right side of a bed. If she is away for work, I keep to my side, though I do believe our dog claims it as her own – and who am I to argue?” the 49-year-old said.

“If I’m away for work in a hotel, I still stick to my side. I’m a creature of habit.”

While his wife transitioned to their side-switch with ease, “I felt existential dread grip me as I gripped the duvet”.

“Where am I? Where do I put my legs? Will I ever fall asleep again? We laughed it off the next day, though I have to be honest with you, the other side is odd … It was like being jet-lagged and not knowing which country I was in,” Campbell said.

‘I felt existential dread grip me as I gripped the duvet.’ Picture: Instagram

‘She whispered to me the words I had longed to hear.’ Picture: Christian Gilles

“Weeks passed. Sometimes I would lie awake and watch her cast while she was sleeping, trying to will her wrist better.

“My rested bedfellow finally got her arm back and she whispered to me the words I had longed to hear. ‘Do you want to swap back?’ As tears filled my eyes I smiled a reassuring grin and said, ‘If that’s what you want, honey.’

“I then ran upstairs and had a celebration nap on my side. The good side. The right side. The side where I belong.”

’The good side. The right side. The side where I belong.’

Campbell is not alone in his temporary discomfort – for many couples, which side of the bed they each sleep on is an unspoken, mutual agreement.

Psychologist Aaron Surtees told Yahoo! News last year that having a preferred side of the bed comes down to our personality type and how our brain is wired.

“There is research to suggest that it is more than just a habit and people who sleep on the left side wake up in a more positive mood, calmer and feel more confident in general than people who choose to sleep on the right side,” he explained.

“People who sleep on the right, on the other hand, are believed to be grumpier and have a less positive outlook on the world.”

Practical elements also come into play, he said – on a subconscious level, people generally feel safer sleeping next to a wall instead of a window, or it might depend on the layout of your room.

“It could also be a case of your partner having a strong preference for which side of the bed they insist on sleeping and not wanting to upset them.”

Stellar is out today in The Sunday Telegraph (NSW), Sunday Herald Sun (Victoria), The Sunday Mail (Queensland) and Sunday Mail (South Australia)