Men prefer side chicks who are curvy with long hair and nice eyes. Their personalities do not count, as long as the woman is fit and attractive.

This is according to research done by Victoria Milan, one of the world's most discreet online platforms for those seeking extramarital adventures.

It conducted a survey in which it asked men from more than 20 countries on their preferred perfect mistress.

South Africa, the United States, Australia, Belgium, Mexico, Peru and Brazil were among the 22 countries polled.

"In total, we polled 4803 participants. From those, 12% were using our site from South Africa, which means 576 men who seek extramarital affairs in this region. Behind the UK, South Africa was one of the countries from where our users participated the most in this survey," said CEO Sigurd Vedal.

Vedal said the last research done in 2015 showed a preference for slim girls.

He said this survey was repeated because physical stereotypes have since changed.

"Three years later, men's physical preferences have changed: now 40.8% of the other 4803 participants prefer curvaceous mistresses over 35.2% who keep choosing slim lovers.

"Despite the incessant portrayal of very slim women in popular media, it seems that men actually prefer a curvier woman ...," he said.

He believes that perceptions may have changed due to body positivity campaigns on social media platforms around the world.

"After so many years promoting a slim or skinny body culture, brands and society in general have realised that what really matters is to be fit and healthy. We've been seeing that from other surveys we've conducted, even users from our sugar daddy dating website, RichMeetBeautiful," he said.

Interestingly, the importance of keeping fit has also increased considerably among men's preferences. "Male stereotypes of women have evolved, it doesn't matter anymore if they are curvy, slim or average size. We all like healthy and fit people when dating, especially if the aim of the date is to find an extramarital affair.

"In fact, participants tend to answer according to their fantasies," he said.