Bad Dates of Melbourne airs romance’s dirty laundry
Airing the city’s worst dating stories, a new online confessional is giving today’s dating navigators a voice. And its Melbourne founder says from “forgotten” wallets through drunk sex to dates at Kmart, nothing is off limits.
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A Melbourne Facebook page is sharing the city’s funniest, most cringe-worthy and most heartwrenching dating stories.
Bad Dates of Melbourne Facebook page creator Alita Brydon said the page started after she went on a series of bad dates and her friends thought her stories were so funny, she should share them.
It became wildly popular and people began sending in their own mortifying dating experiences and the page grew to 104,356 followers.
She said most common mortifying romantic anecdotes she received were dates with ‘secret wives’ and forgotten wallets on expensive dinners.
She said the page received at least five stories a week about dates who had defecated in the bed after a night of drinking.
“We’re all going on more dates than ever, thanks to dating apps, so the page has really taken off,” Ms Brydon said.
“It’s a place to share your bad experiences and laugh about them.”
Ms Brydon said she received up to 30 submissions a day.
She picks her favourite anecdotes and posts them anonymously on the Bad Dates page.
“Sometimes the stories are sad, but they're real.” she said.
One of her favourite submissions was from a woman who had broken her leg and was swiping on Tinder while on bed rest.
She was still on crutches but organised a date with a match and they went to the beach.
When her date realised there wasn't a spark and the date was going badly, he grabbed her crutches and sprinted down the beach.
She never saw him again.
Ms Brydon has been on more than 200 dates, and said she created the page after wanting to share her years of ”bad dates” experience.
“I was meant to go on a cute, quirky Ikea date with a guy but he called me 45 minutes beforehand and said we were going to Kmart instead,” she said.
They spent the date choosing cleaning products for his apartment.
The date ended after they went to Grill’d and he got into an argument with a staff member over a low carb burger bun.
Ms Brydon said the man ghosted her for a few months, before he messaged her to say he had gotten back with his ex but they broke up, and he should’ve been with her all along.
There was no second date.
Not all the Bad Dates of Melbourne submissions end badly though.
A man went on a date who kept talking about her ex and in desperation to impress him, the woman showed him she could shove her entire fist in her mouth.
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Two years on they were married with children.
Ms Brydon is happily single but still looking and has some advice for those in the daunting dating world.
“Know that everyone is nervous, even the most confident people do but enjoy your dating life because we’re in such an exciting time with all the online apps available,” She said.
Ms Brydon will be running Good Swipes of Melbourne, a dating app workshop for people in the ‘trenches’ looking for love in Fitzroy on January 18.
courtney.beaumont@news.com.au