I’m all for new hobbies – but I will always prefer sex to sewing machines
From learning how to use a sewing machine to sexual exploration, I have taken up several new hobbies in midlife. You could argue that sex isn’t a…
You can tell a lot about a man by which platform he trolls me on
Letter writing, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and even a good old-fashioned phone call to The Daily Telegraph office: broadly speaking, you can tell an awful lot about a…
Can I let go of my hangups and date a small man?
Apart from the late night I mistakenly slathered HRT gel across my face thinking it was night-time serum, which resulted in what looked to be scarlet fever,…
Why the spark died when he asked to split the bill
This is awkward, so I’ll get straight to the point. When it comes to paying the bill on a date, I don’t need a man to pay…
Why I’m open to dating a man over 60
If you have ever been near a dating app, one thing you’ll know is you have to “chat” to at least eight people at the same time…
Things are hotting up: two dates in one day
Two years ago today, we sat our children down at the kitchen table and I delivered the bombshell that was to blow up their lives. “Mum and…
I went to LA and got to tick ‘date famous actor’ off my bucket list
If you’ve been keeping up with this column, you’ll know I’ve had more dating disasters than hot dinners. Granted, online dating has provided regular column inches and…
The Instant by Amy Liptrot, review: heartbreak (and raccoons) in Berlin
In the end it all came good for Amy Liptrot. The Outrun, her bestselling debut memoir published in 2016, chronicled the alcoholism she succumbed to in her…
The French man I dated last year is back – and it’s getting wild
After a particularly bad day last week a friend proffered some advice. “Manifest a new life,” he said nonchalantly over WhatsApp, as if a new life was…
Can someone rewrite Sleeping Beauty so that she opens a Lifetime Isa instead of sleeping?
There’s a gap in the dating app market I’m surprised no one’s spotted. “Desperate, divorced middle-aged woman seeks rich man to pay for everything dot com.” Don’t…
‘Charming’ Tinder fraudster scammed £141,000 from date
The father-of-two, from Southsea, Hampshire, told Amrita Sebastian he was worth £6.8million when he first contacted her on the dating app in 2015, Portsmouth Crown Court was…
I wish I didn’t care about padded love hearts and huge red balloons as much as I do
I get a bit hand wafty and “poo poo” at the mere mention of Valentine’s Day, and it’s nothing to do with being single (honest). I’ve always…
I’ve been love-bombed several times before, but this time I failed to see the red flags
One sunny morning, early last autumn, I did what I always do after school drop-off and took the puppy to the local dog park for her morning…
‘I thought “manifesting” my perfect life was nonsense – until it worked’
The first time I manifested my desires, I was 22, lying on a beach in Barcelona. I was half-heartedly reading The Secret, Rhonda Byrne’s bestselling book on…
I remember the days when long-term relationships were forged with a snog in the back of a taxi on the way home from a date
Sometime around this point in mid-January, the wheels come off as new year’s resolutions we vowed to keep begin to fall by the wayside. For this precise…
What was I hoping for – a man to replace the one I’d just left because I was scared?
I’ve had some time off this Christmas to process and think. (Always dangerous, never a good idea.) Looking back at the past two years, I’m beginning to…
Speed dating: Why one app gives you just 24 hours to meet your match
I’m sitting in a London pub with my friend, Sam, on a Thursday night, waiting. “We’ve on a double, half-blind date,” I tell the barman we know,…
Resolutions shouldn’t be about self-harm – which is why I’m giving up dating apps
A tangle of fairy lights, the chaotic rush of last-minute presents, piles of unwritten cards, cardboard boxes waiting to be broken down ready for the recycling bin. …
Christmas Day is enough to make anyone want a divorce – but hold your horses
I’ll cut to the chase: Christmas is a time when couples fantasise about breaking up. Sorry to put a dampener on proceedings, but you have to admit,…
I recreated The Holiday to see if I could find love in New York
A few weeks ago I sent a message to a random woman in New York City, asking if she wanted to swap lives with me. Homes, friends,…
I found myself wondering if my neighbour’s 60-year-old dad should be taking me out on a date?
The shock of separation and leaving the “family home” last September, a home we built together over a decade ago and were never meant to leave, has…
When I’m at my lowest ebb, the narcissists circle like birds of prey tracking a bunny
A sign you may be in a “cuffing season” relationship (should you be worried) is you prefer to hunker down on the sofa and watch Netflix rather…