“There are one or two men I’ve had brief, casual romantic relationships with that have evolved into friendships,” Olivia told BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.
“The fact that we’ve ‘gone there’, so to speak, makes it easier for us to have close friendships without any lingering tensions or question marks,” she says.
But when it comes to serious relationships, she says while she’s on good terms with them they’re not close friends.
Dating and relationship coach Kate Mansfield says casual relationships often have less serious life stuff to untangle, so the transition into friendship can be smoother.
But occasionally, casual relationships can trigger bigger emotions because they are “often much more intense,” she says.
“It depends really on the way it ended, and who ended it, was it a mutual fizzle, or did one person decide it was over? This has more of an impact than time invested in itself,” says Kate.