Jana Hocking: How Candice Warner slid into husband David’s DMs

When she first met her now-husband David Warner in a bar, Candice wasn’t dazzled by the cricket star. But a year later, she made a “surprise” move.

Sure, the dating apps are cute, but ask anyone who has been single through a pandemic, and they will tell you that swipe fatigue is a real thing.

So how do we meet people that doesn’t involve huddling over your phone on a lonely Sunday, desperately trying to find someone to keep you company on a cold afternoon?

Well, I had Candice Warner on the Kinda Sorta Dating podcast this week and, as I like to do with anyone who has gone on to meet their perfect match, I asked her a very pressing question — how did she meet her now husband, David Warner?

To my absolute surprise, she revealed that she slid into his DMs! Yep, a hottie mclottie like Candice Warner is sliding into the ol’ DMs.

Shook.

She explained that despite growing up 500m away from each other, they actually didn’t meet until they were all grown up at the Bondi Hotel, where he completely ignored her and gave her the impression he was obnoxious.

Jana Hocking has been pondering whether women should make more moves in the name of love. Picture: Instagram/JanaHocking

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A year or so later she persevered and messaged him on Twitter after watching a documentary he featured in. They talked via the social media platform for a few months, forming a close bond before he flew her out to England to watch him play the Ashes.

Yep, their first date was on the other side of the world. Swoon. She proceeds to spill the details on how quickly their relationship evolved, and trust me you don’t want to miss the story (especially if you are a tragic romantic like myself).

It got me thinking … do we all need to be a little braver IRL. Perhaps grow some balls and just go for it, when it comes to the person we are heavily crushing on.

Sure it’s cute to sit back and hope they pick up on the big puppy dog eyes we are throwing their way, but is that enough? Maybe we just need to be a little bolder and slide into their DMs?!

Candice Warner admitted she slid into her now husband Dave’s DMs to get his attention. Picture: Instagram

I tried this once, many moons ago, with a farmer who had appeared on Farmer Wants A Wife. Good lord, seeing that man shear a sheep really got my ticker (and loins) going.

I was working for Channel 9’s travel TV show Getaway at the time, and its sister show Farmer Wants A Wife was keen for promotion at the time.

So, I mustered up all my courage and went into my bosses office and asked if, perhaps, we could get ‘Farmer Kieran’ to film a segment around his home town of Young. Of course, I would be more than happy to organise it.

Perhaps he could see the big love heart emojis in my eyes, or he could see the cross-promotion value between the two shows, but happily he said yes.

So before you know it, I’m on the phone to ‘Farmer Kieran’ organising where we should film around his home town. A week later, the crew had set sail for this small country town and I’m left in the wings, hoping it all goes well.

Through our many phone conversations, we had become friends, so I boldly added him on Facebook. Then, a week after the final episode of Farmer Wants A Wife went to air, and to the shock and horror of many viewers, it turned out that ‘Farmer Kieran’ didn’t eventually pick one of the girls to come to the finale with him (huzzah!)

So … I decided to be shameless and slide into his Facebook DMs.

I mentioned that my grandparents had a farm in the town next to his, and perhaps we should meet up next time I am up for a visit.

He said that sounded like a marvellous idea, and roughly a month later we were sitting opposite each other at the local pub enjoying a beverage and a flirt.

We went on to date for about a year, and during that time I fell madly in love, learnt how to ride a horse and met my (now) best friend though his best mate.

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Here we are, riding horses.

Kieran (left) with farmers Mark and Ben.

You have to be brave in the pursuit of love.

Sadly, the relationship didn’t last, in fact, to this day it is still one of the most brutal break ups I’ve ever been through, but it is also one of the fondest moments in my life. And it all happened because I mustered the courage to slide into his DMs.

So if you are looking for a sign, this is it. Slide into your crush’s DMs, because you never know, it could just work out the way it did for Candice Warner. The girl has been married for six years and has three kids with the love of her life because she took a risk. #goals

Jana Hocking hosts news.com.au’s Kinda Sorta Dating podcast | @jana_hocking