The Boston Herald

All Editions Sections: Arts & Life; Pg. 059
June 26, 2003 Thursday

Ladies’ choice
By Azell Murphy Cavaan

It used to be the sexy secretary.

Today, it’s the hunky repairman who is causing spousal insecurity.

“I’m going out to hire a new landscaper,” joked 53-year-old John Hurst, who has been married for 22 years and says his landscaper is a good-looking guy with muscles.

“Not that my wife would even consider a fling, but why tempt fate?” Hurst, who says he’s not interested in celebrity gossip, admits “hearing something” about 41-year-old Demi Moore dating “some guy in his 20s.”

It’s a burgeoning Hollywood trend that, according to love and relationship expert Ava Cadell, has men flocking to pharmacies with Viagra prescriptions in hand.

“They’re becoming insecure about their women becoming attracted to younger men,” she said.

“They want to be able to keep up.”

Recently, Cadell, who has appeared on CNN and A&E’s “Biography” series to talk about sex-related issues, counseled a 29-year-old man engaged to marry a 37-year-old woman.

“He was really concerned,” she said. “He was thinking that when he hits 30, she might dump him for a younger man.”