Someone Is Hitting on Your Mate: What Would You Do?

March 3, 2008 — -- You go out for a romantic evening with your sweetheart, but what if the attractive waiter or waitress at that romantic bistro started hitting on your mate?

ABC News decided to find out. We approached Douglas Caraballo, a newlywed recently married to Claudia. We took Douglas into our confidence and asked him to bring his wife to a New York City restaurant we rigged with hidden cameras. Claudia had no idea an actor, playing a waitress, was about to hit on her husband.

When Douglas and Claudia ordered drinks from Jessie, our beautiful blond actress, she began flirting with Douglas by telling him his face looked familiar. She told him he should be an actor because he had the face for it.

"That was sweet. … You an actor babe?" Claudia asked Doug jokingly.

As the waitress continued to flirt with Douglas, Claudia kept her good humor. After awhile, she leaned in to Douglas and said she noticed Jessie was only paying attention to him.

Douglas pretended to be oblivious, even as the attention escalated and became a bit physical. When Jessie took his order, she touched his shoulder and told him she'd be right back with his drink. Claudia noticed the touch and pointed it out to him.

"Babe, she just touched your shoulder," she said. As we did in all of our experiments, we asked Douglas not to react to the flirting.

Jessie continued to pretend she knew Douglas from somewhere, asking if he starred in commercials.

"I swear it's gonna drive me crazy," Jessie said. "I recognize you from something. What do you do?" Claudia guffawed in the background, clearly beginning to have a reaction. And our waitress kept on flirting and touching.

At one point, Jessie forgot to bring Claudia her drink so Claudia decided she didn't want a drink after all. And she began to have a moment of doubt in Douglas. She asked him whether he knew the waitress from somewhere. Douglas swore to Claudia that he'd never seen her in his life, but Claudia insisted the waitress acted like she knew him. Douglas insisted he didn't know her.

The next time, Jessie flirted by telling Douglas she was a model and wondering whether he had been on a shoot with her. Douglas decided something needed to be done, and he introduced Claudia to Jessie as his wife.

Our expert, life and relationship coach Donna Barnes, told us this was a good move on Douglas's part. "He was terrific that he introduced her to his wife, trying to calm her down," she said. She also told us it was one thing to have a hot husband and have women respect it. It was another for a woman to steal him out right from underneath you. He was doing well with not really engaging in it.

When the waitress continued to flirt even after Douglas made it clear that Claudia was his wife, they decided to leave. Jessie asked the couple if anything was wrong. Claudia told Jessie she had never experienced anything like it in her life and Douglas told her they weren't used to so much flirting. Jessie pretended she didn't know what they were talking about.

As they prepared to leave, ABC News correspondent John Quinones, who was personal friends with the couple, appeared with cameras. Claudia was very surprised and relieved.

"I thought I was going crazy," she said. "I was getting ready to kill her. Or rip her head off." Claudia told Quinones the best thing to do in such a situation is to leave.

Our expert agreed. "I think she handled that perfectly," Barnes said. "She kept her sense of humor about it, she kept her contact with her babe … she kept calling him that which kept the endearment alive between them. And she confronted the girl herself."

Doug decided to introduce Claudia to Jessie as his wife.

Our expert, life and relationship coach Donna Barnes, told us this was a good move on Douglas's part. "He was terrific that he introduced her to his wife, trying to calm her down," she said. She also told us it was one thing to have a hot husband and have women respect it. It was another for a woman to steal him out right from underneath you. He was doing well with not really engaging in it.

When the waitress continued to flirt even after Douglas made it clear that Claudia was his wife, they decided to leave. Jessie asked the couple if anything was wrong. Claudia told Jessie she had never experienced anything like it in her life and Douglas told her they weren't used to so much flirting. Jessie pretended she didn't know what they were talking about.

As they prepared to leave, ABC News correspondent John Quinones, who was personal friends with the couple, appeared with cameras. Claudia was very surprised and relieved.

"I thought I was going crazy," she said. "I was getting ready to kill her. Or rip her head off." Claudia told Quinones the best thing to do in such a situation is to leave.

Our expert agreed. "I think she handled that perfectly," Barnes said. "She kept her sense of humor about it, she kept her contact with her babe … she kept calling him that which kept the endearment alive between them. And she confronted the girl herself."