Swingers

About Swingers

Swingers tells the story of Ruth - a woman who joined a Swinging website and ended up having degrading sex with strangers more than 100 times. Ruth thinks she is not alone, that there are women all over the UK like her and so she decided to tell her story, using her full identity, to investigative journalist Catrin Nye. Ruth says that she never wanted to join the swingers website - but did it to please her husband who had been slowly persuading her for more than a decade to try swinging. She ended up having sex with strangers in lay-bys and filming it for her husband. She ended up pregnant by a stranger and giving oral sex to another man while bleeding from an abortion. In this podcast Catrin pieces together Ruth’s story and asks what it tells us about sexual consent, pressure in relationships, and the swinger community. She digs deep into the online world of Fab Swingers - the website Ruth and her husband used. Catrin discovers countless crimes across the UK linked to the swinging website and speaks to a man who admits to having sex with women who he thinks were pushed into it. She considers the police response to Ruth, the law and whether swinging can be a cover for abuse. This is a story told in full honesty. It’s the trickiest investigation of Catrin’s career, but one she also feels must be told.

Publisher

BBC Radio Wales

Category

society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

9 Jun 2026

Latest episode

16 Jun 2026

Latest episodes

7 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   16 Jun 2026

   6. Black Mirror

   Ruth Mayer shares her journey of leaving an abusive marriage after an epiphany, reflecting on freedom and fear in this interview with Catrin Nye.

2. 

   16 Jun 2026

   5. The Messages

   Solicitor Rachel Horman-Brown and former chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal discuss how controlling relationship messages require context and explore consent challenges in the justice system.

3. 

   16 Jun 2026

   4. The Club

   Catrin Nye explores the rules and relationship dynamics within a swingers club, interviewing experienced individuals about the lifestyle's impact.

4. 

   16 Jun 2026

   3. The Boiling Frog

   Catrin Nye interviews Ruth Mayer about her journey into sex with strangers and the fear that accompanied it.

5. 

   16 Jun 2026

   2. The Men That Swing

   Catrin Nye interviews Professor Nicola Gavey about the complexities of consent and male experiences within the swinging community.

6. 

   16 Jun 2026

   1. Fab

   Catrin Nye interviews Ruth about her experiences with sexual coercion through a swingers website, exploring themes of consent and marital control.

7. 

   9 Jun 2026

   Introducing... Swingers

   Investigative journalist Catrin Nye interviews Ruth about her experiences with a swinging website, uncovering truths about consent and abuse within the community.

Who has been a guest on Swingers

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Ruth
• Rachel Horman-Brown
• Nazir Afzal
• Nicola Gavey

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.6 / 5

52 ratings

Spotify

4.7 / 5

143 ratings

Contact Swingers

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

Questions about Swingers