Jana Hocking: Video trick that stops me being ‘catfished’

To avoid first date disappointments, Jana Hocking has introduced a video rule to weed out any potential catfishes beforehand.

When it comes to dating, there’s nothing more annoying than showing up to your first date and quickly realising they’re not the person for you.

Maybe they look nothing like their dating app pictures, have lied about their height (no, being 5‘10 is not nearly the same as 6’) or worst of all, the banter is non-existent.

If you’re a woman this can be even more frustrating when we take into account the hours you spend getting ready beforehand: makeup, hair and sometimes even buying a new outfit.

It’s why Jana Hocking, dating expert and host of news.com.au podcast Kinda Sorta Dating, says she plans to institute a new first date rule once lockdown in Sydney ends.

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Kinda Sorta Dating podcast host Jana Hocking plans to keep doing video calls before going on any first dates. Picture: Instagram/Jana Hocking.

Jana plans to avoid being “catfished” into a pointless first date by having a video call with her suitors before they meet up in real life.

“That’s one of the things I am going to take out of the dating world after the pandemic,” she said.

“I’m going to make all of my first dates online Skype dates, because there’s nothing worse then getting all dolled up, ready to go out, paying for your Uber, paying for your new outfit and sitting down at the date knowing in 30 seconds that this is not the person for you and he was nothing like he looked like on the app.”

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Jana said dating in lockdown is ‘old school dating’ because of the physical distance. Picture: Instagram/Jana Hocking.

Jana’s podcast guest this week is dating and relationship expert Dr Lurve, who said that singles in lockdown could use the current situation to their advantage.

Lockdown was the “best time to date” as you could use the forced physical distance to “court each other”.

“You can’t just meet people for a Friday night romp in the bedroom,” she said. “People are actually having conversations online at the moment.”

“It’s old school dating,” Jana said in agreement. “It’s like dating in the fifties, it’s quite nice.”

Originally published as Jana Hocking: Video trick that stops me being ‘catfished’