Abbey Holmes and ex AFL player Keegan Brooksby found love online and older Aussies are too

Channel 7 star Abbey Holmes found love online in a single swipe, but lots of older Aussies are finding their perfect matches on dating apps too. Here’s where they’re having luck.

Abbey Holmes is a Channel 7 AFL commentator and former AFLW player who has found lasting love online.

Channel 7 footy commentator Abbey Holmes never believed she would find love online — but a brief foray into the dating apps has resulted in her finding her perfect match.

The only issue now is she is too busy to walk down the aisle.

Holmes and her partner, former AFL player Keegan Brooksby announced their engagement in November 2020 but are yet to lock in their wedding.

“We have not organised anything wedding-wise yet,” Holmes said.

“This year is pretty busy for both of us (with work and sporting commitments).

“Pretty much every weekend for the rest of the year we have something on.”

Holmes met Brooksby after a friend signed her up to Bumble.

“She signed me up while we were in the car and I was driving so I could not stop her,” she said.

“I was always adamant that I would never have any online dating apps like Tinder or Bumble, I don’t know why, I was just against it personally.”

Incredibly she found her perfect match on her first date.

“Keegan was my first ever Bumble date, so now I am their biggest advocate,” she said.

“It was one and done.

“He is hands down the best person I have ever met in my life.

“He is the organised to my chaos because I am a million miles an hour where he is a lot more measured, he crosses Ts and dots Is.”

Where older singles have most luck finding love

Many are sceptical about the success or viability of relationships formed via dating apps, but the statistics speak for themselves.

After two-odd years out of the dating game, singles of all ages are increasingly heading to websites and apps, such as Tinder, Hinge or Elite Singles and Bumble to find love — and many are striking gold.

Public perceptions and prejudices about online dating are shifting in a post-lockdown world, as over the past two years, the realisation sunk in for many that online connectivity is just as valid as face-to-face meetings.

Data has shown that while Gen Z and Millennials tend to stick to sites like Tinder and Hinge, platforms like OkCupid, Match and Elite Singles typically attract a more mature crowd.

The average Tinder swiper spends 90 minutes a day looking for a match on the app.

However, Tinder is proven as a platform for all ages to find love.

After connecting through the app four-and-a-half years ago, Matthew, 49, and Sharon, 43, tied the knot at their wedding several weeks ago.

Matthew said he had never used any online dating sites before meeting Sharon, and one night built up the courage to take the plunge and create his profile.

“I’d held off making a profile in the past because of what I thought Tinder represented,” he said.

“I thought it was all about one-night-stands and casual arrangements, and I wanted to find a meaningful relationship.”

After matching with his wife to be within days of downloading Tinder, he ultimately deleted it after only having the account for a week.

“For people like me going through the dating process for the second time in their lives after a divorce, apps and websites can seem unnecessarily intimidating,” Matthew said.

“It simply doesn’t have to be that scary.

I would encourage people to stick with it, because you never know whether the next person you match with is going to be the one you fall in love with.”

The success of their Tinder experience is attributed to their initial and upfront authenticity, Matthew said.

“I had to be dead honest and transparent from the beginning if I wanted to find something genuine — this meant being truthful about everything, from written communication through to accurate pictures of myself on the profile,” he said.

“I went in being honest about myself, and I came out with the woman I knew I was going to marry.”

Tinder user Matthew, who recently married a woman he met on the app, says online dating ‘doesn’t have to be scary’.

The roaringly popular app boasts over 70 billion matches and 75 million users, with the average Tinder-swiper spending 90 minutes per day flicking through a catalogue of potential dates.

Another popular dating app, Elite Singles, is generally geared towards people who are seeking true love rather than a cheeky one night stand.

But, more specifically, it is marketed at those who also have a university degree, with between 70 and 85 per cent of users holding at least one.

Most users of the website are over 30, with the vast majority between 33 and 50 years old – as well as the age demographic of Elite Singles swinging toward men as the more youthful users.

There are more males in the 25-34 age category than women, and there are more women in the 35-44 age group than men.

Research shows this is typically due to a sense of premature male bravado and achievement earlier in life, while women tend to experience greater levels of impostor syndrome than their male counterparts.

Elite Singles is underpinned by thousands of monthly matches and positive reviews, indicating broad satisfaction with the service.

Success stories from Tinder and Elite Singles confirm that dating does not end when you hit 40 – rather, that is when it can all kick off.

A common denominator underpinning many dating sites is a distinct surplus of men.

With males in abundance, Elite Singles and Hinge sit about the 65-35 mark, while men comprise as many as 78 per cent of Tinder users.