Couple who wed 30 years ago believe having sex with others is the key to a happy marriage

CHARLES and Christa Billich have been married for 30 years and believe they have cracked the code for a lasting romance – by sleeping with other people.

Artist Charles, whose paintings have hung in The Vatican, The White House and the United Nations, firmly believes that monogamy and marriage don’t go together.

He said: “In truth, marriage was designed at a time when the average life span was 30 or 35 years and they didn’t have the time to explore what else there was.

“Today we live to 100 so it would be pretty boring to have monogamy.”

Aussie artist Charles met Christa in the 1980s when she came in to his gallery and bought some paintings and he offered to sketch her.

At his studio she shocked him by stripping off for a NUDE study when he’d been thinking of a head and shoulders – a move that kick-started their romance.

But the Melbourne couple fell into an open relationship after Christa realised that he would not stay faithful.

She told the Daily Mail: “It was pretty clear from the beginning of the relationship that Charles is not your average kind of guy. I knew he had a terrible reputation with women.

“There comes a time when you say, am I going to stay and adjust to his affairs and flings, or am I going to walk? I wanted to stay, so we thought let’s try it, let’s have an open relationship.”

Since then the couple have openly dated other people and believe it keeps their marriage strong.

Charles said: “When you're living life like an open book with no secrets you're closer with each other.”

His wife, who often guests on the Real Housewives of Melbourne,  added: “Charles is very famous for saying that I am loyal but I’m not faithful. I can love my husband and enjoy a tender moment with someone else.”