Allan and Barbara Pease shed more light on the way men and women think about sex and love in their latest book

We analysed 300 guys who say they are metrosexual and found that half are either gay or bisexual. The metrosexual guy is a complete fabrication." – Allan Pease

Most people know Allan Pease as Mr Body Language after his book Body Language (1981) became a bestseller and a major communication tool for many organisations.

Later, he and his wife, Barbara, teamed up to write about relationships. Together, they have written 15 bestsellers on the subject, their latest being Why Men Want Sex & Women Need Love.

These grandparents of five have become such an authority on the subject that they give seminars on relationships, too.

During a telephone interview with Allan (who was in Singapore for an event), he said this new book is meant for anybody who is or intends to be in a relationship.

Asked whether he and his wife ever clashed over their views on the subject while writing their books, Allan said: "No. You’ll only clash if you want the other person to believe what you believe.

"We have a very high male readership which is 40%. For a relationship book, this is very rare. Such books are usually written by women and read by women.

"I write all the guy stuff – the brainscans and the research project and the numbers stuff. I love all that. I write the real life stuff that happens in relationships. "

The couple’s relationship books are not preachy but rather straight to the point. Hence, they make easy reading.

"We use a three-part formula," said Allan. "The first is hard science and facts – men love that. The second is real-life stories about relationships; and the third is making it funny and entertaining.

"When you write about such a delicate subject, what you have to do is to make them funny so that people will want to read them."

Allan believes that Hollywood and romance novels confuse people about what to expect from their partners.

"In a sitcom, couples are normally married in six episodes. That doesn’t happen in real life.

"You have terrific-looking men and women in these relationships. That doesn’t reflect a real-life situation. The great-looking men and women are the minority and not the majority.

"And (in television) they live happily ever after without a list of how they are going to meet each other’s needs.

"The only way to survive in a long-term relationship is to meet your partner’s needs. If your partner’s needs are met and they meet yours, then the relationship will work very well. "

Asked to comment on women who are ever on the lookout for the new age sensitive man, he said: "You mean the metrosexual guy? He is the one who gets his hair and fingernails done, always wear nice clothes.

"We analysed 300 guys who say they are metrosexual and found that half are either gay or bisexual.

"The metrosexual guy is a complete fabrication."

Certain quarters have come down hard on the Peases for daring to say that men and women indeed do think differently.

"They believe that men and women think alike, have the same needs and want the same things. However, science has shown that we have not moved anywhere in the past 50,000 years."

How do men and women reach a common ground?

"You can’t. You can be happy but you can’t reach common ground unless you have similar needs. Women’s needs are different from men’s," said Allan sagely.