CUDDLING up together and sharing a giggle, Kerry Voellner and Carl Shepherd look like any other loved-up couple – but all is not as it seems.
In fact, they're not a couple at all – Carl's long-term partner, Nicky, is a close friend of Kerry.
And this is no clandestine affair either – all the members of this regular threesome are more than happy with their bedroom arrangements.
The racy trio are a fitting symbol of , recently voted the UK’s kinkiest city,
Just days earlier they travelled from their in the city to for a weekend of by the seaside.
“I left their room naked at 3am and ran back down the corridor to my own,” laughs Kerry, 46. “It was one hell of a weekend.”
For Carl, 49, a dad-of-two and self-confessed sex addict, it was a dream come true.
He was with his partner of four years, Nicky, 51, his friend with benefits, Kerry, and a third woman.
“I was living the dream,” Carl says. “I had a blonde, a redhead and a brunette all to myself all weekend and every one of us was delighted about it.”
Manchester – home of small screen sirens like , and ‘s – has been confirmed as Britain's kinkiest city in a survey by Didgeheads.
They analysed the number of sex toy searches made in each location around the country and found the city, better known for its rainy and barm cakes, came out on top with 1,401 searches per 100,000 people.
That's just ahead of Croydon with 1,287 and – maybe surprisingly – , home of Bernard Matthews, and Alan Partridge, with 1,174.
By contrast, Nottingham was found to have the most “vanilla” sexual preferences, with only 204 sex toy searches per 100,000 people.
So what makes Manchester sizzle through the drizzle? Swingers' club boss Kerry has a theory.
“People are up front, in your face and they tell it like it is,” she says.
“But there's also a real warmth and broad-mindedness here. People will try anything once and come back for more if they like it.”
Swingers' paradise
Until three years ago Kerry had a career in digital marketing but she left all that behind to run Britain's oldest swinger's club, formerly known as Adam and Eve's.
It stands on a very ordinary main road through Eccles, a Manchester suburb, opposite a Polish supermarket and a car wash.
When Flying Eze visited there were punters parading about the club with their modesty covered only by strategically-placed towels soon after it opened its doors at 11am.
There's a smell of fresh paint and Kerry gestures towards an empty room, newly decorated by staff and volunteers.
“We were going to put a pool table in there and make it a games room,” Kerry says, “but we've decided to make it a dungeon with a cage in the corner and wall shackles.”
The club, newly relaunched as The Lifestyle Lounge, caters for every kink.
There's a real warmth and broad-mindedness here, people will try anything once and come back for more if they like it
Swingers' club boss Kerry
There's a Roman orgy room, a leather swing chair with ankle straps to hold willing legs akimbo and, beneath one of the beds, there lurks a “cuckold cage.”
“That's where some of our male customers like to be locked inside while someone has sex with their wife on the bed above them,” explains Kerry.
“Cuckolding is very popular. The sense of humiliation in knowing someone else is having sex with their partner and being unable to intervene is all part of the thrill.”
Clients come from a wide variety of backgrounds. They have aerospace engineers, and even a magistrate who like to come into this no-holds-barred environment for a night of kinky fun.
There's also a wide age range – everyone from to , with the youngest customers thought to be around 21 and the oldest 81.
Adam and Eve's opened all the way back in 1982 to what was initially an unenthusiastic response from its neighbours.
‘Safe place'
Dismissed as sleazy and often mistaken for a brothel, the club had to work hard to stave off local outrage and eventually become an established part of the community.
After taking over in 2022, Kerry has big plans.
She says: “I first came in here myself when I was 21 years old and I loved the place even back then.
“I knew I was bisexual and I felt I needed more. When I was with a man for an extended period of time I really missed being with other women.
“I was then in a same sex relationship for five years with a woman and I missed being with men.
“I'm now single but I have couples that I like to play with and that satisfies all my sexual needs without the hassle of being in a .
“I don't have sex on the premises though, people don't come to a swingers club and expect the owner to be flat on her back – well some might, but that's not what happens on my premises.
“This is a safe place with strict rules. We have a ‘no means no' policy so there is absolutely no inappropriate touching, no drunkenness and anyone found with will be banned.
“We're an inclusive environment so verbal abuse and discrimination just won't be tolerated. All the clients who come here know that I'm a strict lady on the door, no one gets away with anything on my watch.”
Carl is one of Kerry's regulars, in her club and her bed.
He says: “It became clear to me several years ago that I'm a sex addict and that's caused all kinds of problems in my past .
“Unfortunately I was always looking elsewhere for sex and it led to me cheating and the breakdown of my relationship with my children's mum and several since then.
“I just didn't seem able to help myself or get enough sex until I discovered the community.
It became clear to me several years ago that I'm a sex addict and that's caused all kinds of problems in my past relationships
Carl, one of Kerry's regulars
“Initially I paid for sex with a couple in . I very quickly realised, ‘This is me, this is who I am'. I instantly loved the adrenaline rush and the freedom of being with another couple.
“That couple introduced me to the swinging community and I've been a very active part of it ever since.”
Four years ago the swinging scene led to a meeting with Nicky, a professional single woman with a senior public service role, and they have been together ever since.
The pair met Kerry at a swingers' event and are now Lifestyle Lounge regulars, even helping with the recent refurb.
So isn't there even a tiny bit of jealousy from Nicky when petite Kerry joins them in bed?
Carl, a window fitter turned software developer, says: “Not a bit, we're all great friends. We're not the only couple that Kerry plays with and everyone is in on this, which is the greatest thing about it.
“There are no secrets, no sneaking around, we're all upfront and enjoying fantastic sex together.”
Kerry nods her agreement, adding: “Coming out of a full-blown orgy is incredible. The release of endorphins is a rush like no other, it's like a drug but it's totally safe and natural.”
Fellow Mancunians Jon Foster, 43, and wife Becky, 45, have been together for 20 years but there's never a dull moment in their .
Former RAF recruit Becky said: “Sex has always been important to both of us and we're not afraid to experiment.
“It started a few years ago when I was asking John what he wanted as a present and he laughed and said, ‘A threesome.'
“I wasn't offended at all and it set me thinking that it might be a good thing.
“I've always been quite adventurous and also bi-curious, although at that point I had never been with another woman.
“We started looking into the swinging scene and the first time we had a sexual encounter where another female was involved I found it amazing.
“We were halfway through the play session and John said to me, ‘I think we can take ‘curious' out of the equation now.'
“We've never looked back and love to get involved with other couples regularly.”
Sex has always been important to both of us and we're not afraid to experiment
Becky
As her confidence grew, Becky became more involved in the world of kink and fetish and now operates as a dominatrix.
She said: “People come to me to be spanked, sometimes verbally abused and shackled. If you had told me when I was in the forces that this is what I'd be doing I wouldn't have believed you.
“But we love this lifestyle, we feel free and happy. There have been times for both of us when we've felt a little jealousy when watching the other in a sexual situation with someone else, but we know the rules and boundaries we've set for ourselves and each other.”
Jon, a professional photographer, said: “We're happiest in the non vanilla world and that's where we've met most of our close friends.
“When you're among like-minded people you never feel judged and there is never any need to put on a pretence. We both love sex and we're really grateful that we found each other.”
