Feet that don't smell as bad as they normally do could expose a man's extramarital affair and lead his wife to sock it to him or even give him the boot, according to Nikkan Gendai (3/5).

The lowbrow men's weekly notes that private eye probes into cheating couples' usually cost more if the target is a woman because they give away less than guys when seeking a bit on the side.

And men into infidelity who don't place enough importance on the smells they emit are at risk of being caught out.

"Women are really sensitive to the smell of feet," a 49-year-old foodstuffs company salaryman tells Nikkan Gendai, revealing how his how wife found out about a fling. I came home one night from meeting my mistress and my wife said 'Your feet don't smell as bad as usual.' I broke into a cold sweat. All I'd done was have a bath."

Smells are often dead giveaway.

"I always make sure I never use soap when I get into the shower at a hotel, but once my wife suddenly came out and said 'You smell like a bath.' I was too worried about the kinds of smells I'd leave on me that I forgot about leaving the body odors I'd normally have," a 42-year-old man in the finance sector says.

Other players, the afternoon tabloid adds, prefer to use "whiskey and cigarette smoke" as their "cologne" when having a secret tryst with the other woman so they smell as though they've had a night with the lads when they arrive home late.

Sex always enhances the risk of exposure, too, but positions appear to be more of a problem than changing frequency. According to one private eye's site, the top ranking reason why some women discover their husbands have been cheating is because they suddenly want to try new positions in bed.

"I just ripped off the bottom of my wife's pajamas and started going at it like a rocket from behind," a 50-year-old cheater from the insurance industry tells Nikkan Gendai. "Even though the young women love it that way, I totally forgot my wife hates it when it's rough." (By Ryann Connell)