There are a wide variety of situations-- not just romance-related-- where not only is genuine conflict of interest banned, but even the appearance of conflict o

There are a wide variety of situations-- not just romance-related-- where not only is genuine conflict of interest banned, but even the appearance of conflict of interest is banned, even if all involved can honestly say there is no actual conflict. This is because if there is such an appearance of conflict of interest, it's impossible to fully convince people that nothing is wrong, and that is a toxic dynamic. There's a similar issue at play here.