Your dilemma is so anxiety-inducing that my palms are sweating and my stomach is doing tiny backflips just reading this question. And I would know; I’ve been there.

As much as I would love to say I’ve had a great relationship with all my friends’ partners (mainly because I base my self-worth on being able to befriend everyone and be liked by everyone), that hasn’t always been the case. I’ve disliked friends’ boyfriends because they weren’t who I would have chosen as a partner for my friend. I’ve disliked friends’ boyfriends because I had an expectation of how they should be, and they didn’t live up to it immediately. I now recognise this was ridiculous, seeing as I wasn’t one of the parties in the relationship.

I’ve disliked friends’ boyfriends because they have acted indifferently to the things that bind our friendship group (namely tequila and trashing each other), dismissing them before they even had a chance to win me over. I’ve disliked friends’ boyfriends because in that moment of nervousness during our first meeting, I was unnecessarily judgmental, and we both totally misunderstood one another. This happened with one of my best friend’s boyfriends and now soon-to-be husband. It culminated in a drunken row that was so hideous I was convinced I had lost my best friend forever. At our next meeting, we confronted it, apologised, got drunk and danced the night away together. He’s been one of my favourite people since.

Ask Billie: “I think my best friend’s boyfriend is cheating. Do I tell her?”