What age did you lose your virginity? In the UK, men typically have sex for the first time at 18, while for women it’s 17 — but around 5% of Brits are 25 or older before they lose their V card.
Comedian Jimmy Carr recently revealed to Louis Theroux that he lost his virginity at the age of 26.
‘I was enmeshed with my mother and maybe that was, you know, a part of it. I’m sure that’s what a psychotherapist would say,’ he says on The Louis Theroux podcast.
He continued: ‘I was a religious guy growing up, a Christian, and then I had a close relationship with my mother.’
From religious beliefs to differing priorities, there are several factors that mean people choose to wait to have sex.
Here, experts explain why some may bloom a little later than others.
Different priorities
Having sex for the first time, especially when it seems like all your peers are at it, is a priority for some. For example, our recent How I Do It diarist, 23-year-old Hannah, was fed up of feeling like the odd one out in her friendship group.
But others aren’t so bothered, and have goals they might value more.
‘An individual might feel as though they want to wait until they have achieved certain personal aims like moving out,’ Psychotherapist Eloise Skinner tells Metro.
‘If they’re sharing accommodation with others or family, it may make it difficult to bring a partner back for sex.’
Other priorities could include hitting personal health goals or financial ambitions before turning to the world of intimacy and relationships.
Mothers
Jimmy Carr mentions his close relationship with his mother as a primary reason he lost his virginity eight years later than the UK average, and BACP therapist Clare Patterson agrees this Freudian concept can certainly be a factor.
‘Sometimes men are seeking a “perfect” connection, such as the one children may have with their mother — where their needs and desires are taken care of perhaps with little effort on their part,’ Clare tells Metro.
‘Having a partner to do everything for them is sometimes the child part seeking a mother to make them feel safe and secure. But true intimacy comes from being autonomous and independent in oneself.
