I ALWAYS knew many people suffer from the grass is greener on the other side' syndrome - but watching BBC2's Wonderland: Virtual Adultery and Cyberspace Love made me realise just how widespread the problem is.

The programme focussed on people who have signed up to the website Second Life. Apparently it's a global phenomenon' boasting 3.5million people living in a virtual world.

Watching a documentary about people living a fantasy life online - TV doesn't get much better than that, does it?

We are introduced to housewife Carolyn, a mum-of-four married to Lee, who spends up to 14 hours a day on the computer in her bedroom talking to her vitual boyfriend Elliot.

According to Carolyn when life and love are less than perfect' Second Life can be very seductive. Well, of course it can, because it's not real.

Putting my feet up and watching a half hour of EastEnders at the end of the day can sometimes be seductive - but I don't actually think Shirley Carter is my best mate or that I live in Albert Square.

Inhabitants of Second Life build a whole new character and look for themselves - or avatar' as it's known.

Not surprisingly no one opts to be less attractive and fatter than they already are in real life. No, they choose to be fitter, sexier and wealthier.

It made me wonder what avatar' Halle Berry would create for herself if she got bored one day and decided to sign up.

Maybe if the people in Second Life devoted as much time to their real life as their fantasy one, they may start enjoying themselves for real.

Carolyn, whose avatar looked like a big-busted Cher, had met Elliot in Second Life, much to the exasperation of her long-suffering real life husband and children.

Lee seemed to be living in hope that Cher' would come to her senses but it actually got worse when she decided to go and meet Elliot in real life'. Of course, you knew it wasn't going to end well, based on Carolyn's aversion to real-life situations.

Meanwhile, another couple who met in the virtual world, Kristen and Steve (I think those were their real names, I began to lose track) decided to get married in Second Life. Kristen told us: "It's going to be perfect."

Well, of course it is, it isn't real - a bit like getting married in Disneyland. Although, even in Disneyland there's the chance Mickey Mouse will slip and fall on your cake.

But I'd rather go to a real life wedding where the bride drinks too much and there's a punch-up between the relatives. Now that's fun.

Who wants perfect? It's just too boring.

In a heartbreaking moment, Kristen tells us that her avatar' is everything I should have been'.

If that's not bad enough, she goes on to add that in Second Life she lives in a house by the sea, where the sun always shines. In real life, she adds, they live in a small house and it always rains. It surely can't rain every day? Where do they live, Saltzburg?

Apparently in Second Life you have no worries - well not unless you count the cost of your telephone bill after spending hours a day on the internet.

I'm sorry but it was all just a little bit too Stepford for me.

Give me real life any day. In fact, in my perfect world there would be no virtual reality at all.