Health
Should Your Partner Really Be Your Best Friend?
Stephanie Lopez is effusive about her husband’s good qualities. He is a man of character, kindness and integrity, she said. He is a loving father and treats her with respect.
But is he her best friend?
“No!” said Ms. Lopez, who is 43 and lives on Hawaii’s Big Island.
“I don’t have sex with my friends,” she explained. “I don’t pay bills with my friends. And I guarantee you, if I did, it would change the whole dynamic of the relationship.”
The belief that your partner should be your best friend pops up everywhere, whether on social media or in the greeting card aisle. It’s not unusual to seek a romantic partner who fulfills more than the role of spouse, co-parent or lover, said Alexandra Solomon, a clinical psychologist and host of the “Reimagining Love” podcast.
“We want somebody who sees us and gets us,” Dr. Solomon said. “Well, that’s the same darn thing we want in our friendships. We really are craving that same sense of affinity and admiration.”
But is it unreasonable to expect your bedmate to be your best friend, or is it the highest form of intimacy?
A Spouse’s Ever-Changing Role
Jennifer Santiago, 42, and her husband are best friends.
The couple, who began dating in high school, have broken up briefly over the years, taking time apart to get to know themselves and what they want out of life. But their underlying friendship brought them back together every time, said Ms. Santiago, who lives in Orlando.
“There was always an empty void when we took a break,” she said. They realized: “Wow, we really, truly do everything together!”
Historically, that is a relatively new approach to romantic relationships, said Eli J. Finkel, a social psychologist and the author of “The All-Or-Nothing Marriage: How the Best Marriages Work.”
Until the mid-1800s, marriage in the United States mostly revolved around ensuring partners had their basic needs (like food and shelter) met — what Dr. Finkel calls the “pragmatic era.” Between 1850 and 1965, marriage entered the “love-based era” — in which the primary relationship functions were about love and companionship, he said. Since then, we have been in the “self-expressive” era — in which marriage is about not only love, but also personal growth.
“The marital relationship has taken on more and more responsibility for our social and psychological needs,” Dr. Finkel said.
How to Set Realistic Expectations
Is it a good or bad thing that many people now expect their romantic relationships to fulfill so many roles in their lives? Ultimately, that depends on “whether your relationship can deliver,” said Dr. Finkel, who is also a co-host of the “Love Factually” podcast.
He feels “delighted” for people who say they want their romantic partners to also be their best friends. But he suggests they consider: Are there other expectations they can let go of? For instance, he said, it is a lot to expect your partner to be the co-chief executive of the household, to split child care, to be your exclusive sexual companion and to be your best friend.
“I don’t want to sound like a scold,” Dr. Finkel said. “I just want people to be aware that every additional expectation that you’re throwing on top of your relationship comes with opportunity for enhanced closeness — and it comes with additional risk that the relationship will buckle under the weight of those expectations.”
He suggested releasing some of that pressure. Can you lean on other friends for emotional support? Are you OK being emotionally close to your partner, but not necessarily having the spiciest intimate life together?
Dr. Solomon believes that friendship, particularly best friendship, is not a requisite for long-term intimacy. But it doesn’t hurt either, she said.
Liking your partner — which she described as admiring them, finding them funny, caring about their worldview, and having fun simply being together — can “cushion” the other relationship challenges a couple might face, she said.
But Dr. Solomon admitted that while she adores her husband of 26 years, he is not her best friend. “My best friend’s name is Ali, and she lives in Seattle,” she said. “She’s been in that spot since we were 10 years old.”
Ultimately, maintaining a tight romantic bond may come down to managing expectations and clearly discussing them, said Adam Fisher, president of the American Psychological Association’s division for couple and family psychology.
Dr. Fisher had a mentor who described marriage and relationships as best friendship plus sex. While he thinks that is one “very viable” approach to a relationship, he said, it is by no means the only one.
“Couples need some kind of ‘glue’ — commitment, shared values, sex, finances — something,” he said, but it doesn’t need to be friendship.
Ms. Lopez is opting out of the bedmate-as-BFF paradigm.
“I think we put so many expectations and responsibilities on our partners,” she said. “I’m not here to be everything and all things to you.”
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Gym membership in the U.S. hit a record high in 2025, according to the Health & Fitness Association, giving consumers more workout options — and more choices to sort through when picking the right fitness space.
Amid today’s wellness renaissance, many gyms and fitness clubs can cost hundreds of dollars per month, depending on the level of access and amenities offered.
In an interview with Fox News Digital, Kenny Santucci — New York City fitness trainer, gym owner and host of the “Strong New York” podcast — revealed the attributes of a great gym.
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“A lot of people traditionally look at gyms [as if] they have to have all the bells and whistles,” he said. “Spa, bathrooms, all these things. For me, a gym is a gym. I go there for the equipment, I go for the culture, I go for the look and feel of the place.”
He added, “You can have an incredible gym [that’s] a garage gym, and you can have an incredible gym [that] somebody could have built for $10 million.”
Amid today’s wellness renaissance, many gyms and fitness clubs can cost hundreds of dollars per month, depending on the level of access and amenities offered. A New York City fitness trainer (not pictured) has a different view of what makes the best gyms.
Santucci, who visits new gyms across the country and posts his experiences on social media, said he looks for a balance between aesthetics and equipment quality, as well as “great people.”
“I think you could go and get in a sweat or a workout anywhere — but if the people are great, that’s what creates that great culture,” he said.
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“If you ask the average person who goes to most big-box gyms, the things they tell you they love about the gym are, ‘Oh, I love the showers. They have really nice towels.’ It’s nothing that actually pertains to the gym, and I believe that people should go to the gym to progress and get better,” he added.
With these goals in mind, Santucci revealed some of his top-rated gyms in the U.S.
Life Time Fitness
Life Time is a chain of luxury health clubs in the U.S., offering amenities like indoor courts, swimming pools, saunas and group fitness classes.
Santucci applauded the gym’s founder and CEO, Bahram Akradi, for being a “very hands-on owner and operator,” overseeing hundreds of gyms across the country.
The facade of an upscale Lifetime gym is shown in Walnut Creek, California, on April 8, 2025. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
“[Bahran’s] mentality and belief system around the fitness space, I absolutely love,” he said.
“I give a lot of credit to the guys who are owners and operators,” Santucci added. “They’re in the space, they’re making sure things are going really well. I think if you’re going to be in the gym business, you should be one of those people.”
Anatomy Gyms (Florida)
Santucci also shouted out Marc Megna, co-founder and co-CEO of Florida-based Anatomy Fitness for building a must-visit space.
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“It’s an incredible culture there, and I think that’s what they really push at that gym,” he said.
“The way the gym’s set up, the cleanliness of it, the aesthetics – you walk in that place, and you want to train … and those are things you can’t just buy … You have to live it, love it and be involved in the day-to-day operations.”
Powerhouse (New York/New Jersey)
In a newer recommendation, Santucci said he’s enjoyed stopping into Powerhouse Gym in New York City.
The New York- and New Jersey-based gym focuses on weight training and bodybuilding, including a powerlifting room and boxing rig at its locations.
“I just started going there, once or twice a week,” he said. “I really love the people and the culture.”
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The Training Lab (NYC)
For more of a group fitness and Hyrox training experience, Santucci recommends The Training Lab in New York City. (Hyrox is a global fitness racing brand and training system with affiliated gyms and training clubs.)
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“The guys over at Training Lab are incredible,” he told Fox News Digital. “Another owner-operator who’s involved in the business, who partakes in everything. I think they’re another great gym.”
“If you’re looking for group training, Training Lab’s a great space.”
Participants compete in the burpee broad jumps event during the Hyrox fitness race at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre in Bangkok on March 21, 2026. (Amaury Paul/AFP)
The price of wellness
While some premier gym memberships can cost upward of $300 a month, Santucci said it isn’t necessary to spend a lot to get results, although it may result in more of an “experience.”
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“We need to restructure the way we think about health and wellness,” he said. “People aren’t going out as much anymore. They’re not spending as much on alcohol.
“It’s all what you prioritize. I prioritize fitness,” he went on. “I belong to multiple gyms. I have a membership to TMPL Gym here in [New York City]. I have a membership to Renzo Gracie’s. That’s what I like to do with my money.”
While some premier gym memberships can cost upward of $300 a month, Santucci emphasized that it isn’t necessary to spend a lot to get results. (iStock)
Santucci said what he’s paying for goes beyond the equipment — pointing to the staff, community and overall atmosphere as part of the value.
“If you want that elevated experience, you’re going to pay for that just like you would at a hotel or a restaurant or anything else,” he said.
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The expert suggested that wellness has recently become a “third form of hygiene.”
“It’s like you take a shower, you brush your teeth and you go to the gym,” he said. “I think those are three non-negotiables for almost everybody on a daily basis when it comes to your hygiene.”
Ants can be a nuisance. Just ask officials at a hospital in Canada who are dealing with an “appearance of ants within the operating room” that has forced them to indefinitely suspend some surgeries there.
The ants appeared recently at Carman Memorial Hospital in Carman Manitoba, according to a statement from Southern Health-Santé Sud, the provincial authority that oversees the hospital.
It was not clear when the hospital would resume operations, but Southern Health said on Friday that a “limited number of elective surgeries” had been postponed and that the hospital was working with patients to reschedule them. Portage Online, a local news website, reported that 16 operations had been postponed, citing information from Southern Health.
It’s not the first time ants have disrupted operations at the hospital. The insects appeared there in August 2024, but “the issue resolved within a few weeks,” Southern Health said. They returned last summer. But with their reappearance this week, the hospital said it was taking more drastic measures. The hospital serves the area around Carman, a town with a population of around 3,000 residents about 47 miles southwest of Winnipeg.
“Any factor that could impact the safety or integrity of the operating room environment requires the suspension of surgical activity until the issue can be resolved,” Southern Health said. “The safety of patients, staff and physicians is paramount.”
The hospital is working with exterminators “to identify the source of the ants and implement additional measures and support a long-term resolution.” Southern Health told Portage Online that exterminators had “surveyed and cleaned drains, opened walls and sealed cracks.”
“Several methods have been used to bait the ants in an effort to find where they are originating from,” the authority said.
In a separate statement to the CBC, Southern Health said that it believed that an ant colony had made its home near the hospital and that they appeared to be “simply seeking food sources inside buildings as ants are known to do.”
The hospital also told the CBC that the ant problem at the hospital did not amount to an “infestation.”
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The U.S. government is moving to evacuate American passengers from a cruise ship linked to a deadly hantavirus outbreak, with plans to transport them to a military base in Nebraska for quarantine and monitoring, federal health officials said Friday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the risk to the American public remains extremely low as officials move forward with a medical repatriation flight for passengers aboard the M/V Hondius.
President Donald Trump said earlier Friday that the situation appears to be under control, pointing to the virus being difficult to transmit.
“We have very good people looking at it. It seems to be okay. They know the virus very well. They’ve worked with it for a long time. They know it very well. Not easy to pass on. So we hope that’s true,” he said.
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Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. (Misper Apawu/AP)
“We seem to have things under very good control. They know that virus very well. It’s been around a long time. Not easily transferable, unlike COVID. But we’ll see. We have very good people studying it very closely.”
The outbreak has escalated over several weeks, beginning with a passenger who became sick in early April and later resulting in at least three deaths, according to the World Health Organization.
Cases are now reported across multiple countries after passengers disembarked in Africa and Europe, prompting health officials to trace contacts globally.
Authorities in Cape Verde at one point blocked passengers from leaving the ship, underscoring concerns about containment.
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An ambulance evacuates patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship to the airport in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. (Misper Apawu/AP)
Hantavirus is a rare but potentially deadly disease typically spread through contact with infected rodents or their droppings, according to the CDC. While most strains do not spread between people, health officials say the Andes virus — identified in some cases linked to the cruise ship — is the only known strain capable of limited person-to-person transmission.
The vessel is expected to dock in Spain’s Canary Islands, where international teams are coordinating next steps for passengers and crew.
A CDC team has been deployed to the Canary Islands to assess potential exposure among American passengers and determine monitoring needs.
Returning passengers are expected to be flown on a U.S. government medical repatriation flight to Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska.
Health workers in protective gear evacuate patients from the MV Hondius cruise ship into an ambulance at a port in Praia, Cape Verde, on May 6, 2026. (Misper Apawu/AP)
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They will then be transported to the National Quarantine Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center for further monitoring.
Additional CDC personnel will be stationed at Offutt Air Force Base to support health assessments.
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