Game of Thrones is ruining your sex life

TV is the enemy, apparently

Apparently we're so hooked on addictive box sets like Game of Thrones, that they're ruining our sex lives.

We've steadily been having less and less sex over the last 30 years, and Professor David Spiegelhalter, the Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk, claimed that this lack of sexy-time is caused by couples getting into bed and watching telly, rather than getting straight down to it.

Prof Speigelhalter asked a crowd at the Hay Festival (usually better known for literature than sex) : ‘How many times have you had sex in the last four weeks?' Sexually active couples between 16 and 64 were asked and the median was five times in the last month in 1990, then four times in 2000 and three times in 2010.

Not content with blaming Netflix, Professor Spiegelhalter also took a shot at more general tech, suggesting the rise of ‘massive connectivity’ and people constantly on their smartphones could be at fault, saying ''The point is that this massive connectivity, the constant checking of our phones compared to just a few years ago when TV closed down at 10.30pm or whatever and there was nothing else to do.'

‘You say why?' Speigelhalter continued. 'Statisticians say I don’t know. One of the researchers mentioned the word iPad. I think it’s the box set, Netflix. OMG I’ve got to watch the entire second series of Game Of Thrones.'

He then went on to add a dire warning to everyone that 'at this rate, by 2030 couples are not going to be having any sex at all. Which is a very worrying trend.’

You'd think the number of sex scenes in GoT would be more likely to inspire couples to get down to it than fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. We're not convinced that the Professor's theory adds up... But maybe banish the iPad from the bedroom for a couple of weeks and see what happens, just in case he might be right.