Sqad, what rules out a man for being a consultant because he has a wife that doesn't appeal to the interviewers? What does she have to be or do to make him unsuitable? Ruddy good job that advancement at the Bar wasn't based on such considerations ! My experience was that, at best, High Court and Appeal Court judges had wives who were either borderline mad or utterly terrifying, while they, themselves, were modest, normal, but exceptional barristers and judges.
Who should care what the wife is like? We've moved on from the idealism in "Caesar's wife should be above suspicion" to "Oh, that's just the way she is", haven't we ?