← All Ted Talk columns

TED TALK WITH UNCLE TED · 7 September 2026

My stinking hubby suddenly started bathing twice a day—is he cheating?

Rosemary’s habitually unwashed husband has abruptly bought toiletries and clean underwear, making her suspicious.

Dear Uncle Ted,

Dear Uncle Ted,

My husband’s breath stinks and his socks pong so much that I force him to wash his feet with lemon before entering the house.

He can even go for three days without bathing and, if I don’t buy him boxers, he will shamelessly walk around wearing smelly, dirty rags.

But two weeks ago, he suddenly bought mouthwash, deodorant spray, new underwear and socks and started bathing twice a day. Is he cheating on me?

Rosemary

Uncle Ted replies

Rosemary, it is possible that the Lord found time off His busy schedule and ordered your hubby to stop walking around smelling like a garbage dump.

There is also a possibility that his workmates got fed up and told him to his face that his stench was suffocating everyone, including the office rat.

But I don’t think he is cheating on you because a woman would have to be bonkers—like you—to be seduced into sleeping with rotting garbage. He is probably just crazy about a mama who puked the moment he got within a ten-metre range, hence the makeover.

Well, if you want to keep your man, order him to go back to his filthy ways. Better the skunk you know.