Dating in a pandemic: Aussie singles seeking sex, plastic surgery and COVID-19 vaccine

In the wake of the pandemic, Australians have dramatically changed what they’re looking for in a partner – and what they hope to avoid.

EXCLUSIVE: Plastic surgery is a turn on and living with your parents is OK too — but what Australian singles really want from a lover is sex every other day.

Saying no to a COVID vaccine is a turn off, as is being straight in bed, and you may want to rethink bringing religion into play.

Australians that turned to dating app OkCupid to find love in 2020 were asked about the qualities they want in a future partner.

Natural beauty has taken a back seat with a whopping 84 per cent of 10,000 Aussie singles saying they would date someone that had cosmetic surgery.

Hooking up with someone that still lives at home with their parents used to be a big no-no but now it is almost the norm. Of 75,000 singles, 75 per cent said they would date someone living with mum and dad.

Of 75,000 singles, 75 per cent said they would date someone living with mum and dad. Picture: istock

However one area most Australians won’t pull back on is sex. Of 345,000 men and women, 47 per cent said they expected sex every other day and 36 per cent said they want it every day. Only 15 per cent want sex once or twice a week and a minuscule two per cent can stretch it out to just a few times a month or less.

Dating in the era of COVID has put health back in the spotlight with more than half of respondents ready to take a vaccine and “go out and live”. Another 28 per cent want to take a vaccine but don’t want to be the first, while 21 per cent are not sure yet.

Marriage has well and truly fallen out of fashion with 86 per cent of just over 140,00 singles saying it is not necessary to tie the knot when two people love each other.

Religion is barely on the radar with 60 per cent of 40,000 Australians saying they don’t even practice a faith. Of those that do, 26 per cent said they would date someone with different beliefs, and nine per cent said it depended on the religion.

Even wealth has been pushed to the side. Of 435,000 app users, 32 per cent said they wouldn’t have a problem dating someone who was in considerable debt, 37 per cent said they would if it was justified, and only 31 per cent ruled it out.

Of 345,000 men and women, 47 per cent said they expected sex every other day. Picture: iStock

Dr Lauren Rosewarne, senior lecturer in the School of Social and Political Sciences at Melbourne University, said the results very much mirrored the times were are living in.

“I suspect that people being willing to accept a lot of surprising things – considerable debt for example – is indicative of long lockdowns, loneliness and a willingness to lower standards rather than do another 2020 solo should we be in this situation again,” she said.

She said given both the wide scope of cosmetic procedures – from lip fillers through to breast augmentation – and also the prevalence of them “it doesn’t seem surprising” that people would be fine dating someone who has had one.

She said substantial demographic changes in recent years like people living at home longer, staying longer in tertiary education and accruing debt – “means that things that might have been deal breakers in previous eras probably aren’t much of a concern now”.

But expecting sex everyday is probably more wishful thinking than reality, she said.

“It’s an ideal – and you might go into the search for a partner wanting this – but in reality (statistically at least) this is unlikely to eventuate.”