He wanted to get back with his wife.

But Ms Sonya Gore, 40, was not prepared take him back right away. So she set Mr Ivan Lewis a challenge that was also a punishment.

She asked him to post a photo of himself on Facebook with a note that read: "I cheated on my wife!!! (and she was ugly!!!)".

She said she would try to get back with him only if he got 10,000 likes, the Mail Online reported.

The photo was uploaded last week and it has so far attracted more than 8,000 "likes".

But Ms Gore said she is "not making the decision (to reconcile) solely on that".

The couple reportedly separated just 10 months after marrying in February 2010 because of Mr Lewis' serial cheating.

But he recently asked Ms Gore on Facebook if she would "marry him again", prompting her to propose the apology.

"I wrote the post out myself," she told News One.

"Before he uploaded the post, he asked me to marry him again on Facebook and I was like: 'Well, if you want to put that on Facebook, then you need to say that you cheated and put that on Facebook, too.'"

She was with him when he uploaded the picture because she wanted him to feel the same humiliation she felt as a result of his philandering.

But netizens have been divided on the public shaming. Mr Lewis' supporters congratulated him for "manning up".

A netizen said: "I don't know you but I salute you for being a man and admitting to your mistake and being willing to (take) the embarrassment to prove to your lady that you're willing to go the extra mile."

But many criticised and ridiculed the couple's 'attention-seeking' behaviour and warned that Mr Lewis probably hasn't changed.

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