Could dating your best friend be the perfect recipe for relationship success?

Having a best friend is one the best things in the world. Not only are you be able to connect with them on an emotional level, but I find it refreshing when you can find someone that you can relate to and someone who just understands you on various levels.

Read: Is it okay to have a best friend from the opposite sex?

According to W24, scientists from the University of Texas have said that the secret to true love could lie in dating someone like your best friend - who you have known for a long period of time. 167 couples were sampled in this experiment and 40% of them have said that they were friends before getting into a relationship.

I'm not sure why this study seems so bizarre to some. I think dating a best friend makes all the sense in the world. There is this school of thought that if you cross over from the friend-zone, you are entering shark-infested water, but why?

I mean, you have seen each other, warts and all. There is history there and if you have a best friend, you have most probably and already know his/her family. So the hope and expectation of what the relationship could be is a more realistic one.

Let me tell you one thing I have learned along the way - when you are with the right person, the relationship is not hard work. I married my best friend. Sure, our relationship moved quickly from the night we met, but in saying that, we had known of each other for years through a mutual friend. The timing just wasn't right at that particular time.

Read: Has your best friend ever ruined the perfect moment?

I think that is a huge piece of the puzzle. You both have to be in the same stage of life at the same time. I have seen some couples with different dynamics. The one wants to stay at home on the couch with a glass of wine the other wants to be out clubbing. When two people are pulling in different directions, that is when it becomes complicated. 

Do you think dating your best friend can work long-term?