Valentine’s Day: Meet 10 Adelaide couples who found love on dating apps
It’s not all bad out there – these South Aussies swiped right in the search of love and waded through the holiday hook-ups and serial-killer red flags to find true love.
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Online dating has been around for decades with apps revolutionising the way people find love.
More than ever South Australian are opening Tinder, Hinge and Bumble or others in their search for love – or in some cases a holiday hook-up that could blossom into romance.
In celebration of the upcoming annual day of love, we’re sharing the stories of the soulmates who meet through a right swipe, a brave pick-up line or an unexpected notification.
Meet 10 SA couples spending Valentine’s Day together because of the power of online dating.
Melissa Forbes and Kane Perna: Married
When Melissa Forbes’ best friend made her an OkCupid profile as a joke in 2018 it included a “terrible” photoshopped photo and claimed she was a professional comedian.
It made Kane Perna, 33, laugh and the pair hit it off … until Melissa, 31, ghosted him for a month.
“After I hadn’t replied for a few weeks, Kane actually messaged again after reading some dating advice articles that suggested not to give up after an initial ghosting and to try one more time,” Melissa said.
It was the serial-killer jokes that Melissa said made her most intrigued, despite admitting it would be “a red flag” for most people.
“We saw it as a sign that we each had a twisted sense of humour,” she said.
The pair spoke online for five months before meeting for a first date.
That date lasted more than eight hours with the pub closing around them as they chatted.
“We became inseparable and have been by each other’s side ever since,” Melissa said.
“OkCupid helped me find my best friend. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together. Laughing, supporting one another, and making memories.”
Kane proposed to Melissa in 2020 and the couple planned their wedding in four months tying the knot in October.
Bec Sumsion and Claudia Jones: Married
They should have never connected on Tinder but eight years ago Bec Sumsion, 32, and Claudia Jones, 27, both swiped right.
Claudia had just turned 19 and Bec had the lower age limit on the app set to 22 but now they are about to embark on a Seychelles honeymoon.
“I had no idea how she got on my profile, but she was (and still is) cute as heck so I couldn’t say no to a date when she asked me out to dinner,” Bec said.
“I honestly only went on it for a bit of entertainment and never intended on really dating anyone seriously.”
Five years later, Bec wasn’t even able to pop the question before a crying Claudia yelled “yes” and two days later was surprised with a city hotel proposal of her own.
“(Claudia) said ‘just because I got an amazing proposal from you doesn’t mean you should miss out’,” Bec said.
The Woodville North newlyweds, who were married in December, are partners in life and in business.
Claudia is the senior tattoo artist and Bec the apprentice at Vintage Scarecrow Tattoo and Laser Removal.
“She helped me start my dream career and we now own a successful business together and had the most amazing wedding, life’s honestly pretty great,” Bec said.
“Honestly, she makes me smile all the time. She’s adventurous and quirky and just took me by surprise with how much she makes me laugh uncontrollably.”
Natasha Huntley and Brodie Leeson: Holiday hook-up turned true love
It started as a holiday hook-up and ended up with a Paralowie woman quitting her job and moving to Queensland.
Natasha Huntley, 28 was on a getaway to Mackay when she met Brodie Leeson, 27.
“Naturally as a single woman I was on Tinder, talking to some locals, planned a few dates but they always fell through as I would cancel on them,” she said.
That was until Brodie messaged her.
“That night I went out and met him, we were playing the pokies and I won $900 within 30 minutes of meeting him and from then on I said he was my good luck charm,” Natasha said.
Their next date was a hike to some waterfalls where they both felt an instant connection.
When Natasha returned home, they spoke every day until Brodie took his first plane ride to Adelaide.
“We went to dinner the first night he visited me and played the pokies again, I won $500, he definitely was my good luck charm,” Natasha said.
“I realised I didn’t want to be without this man, so I quit my job and moved to Mackay to be with him.
“I never thought I’d meet my person on a dating app, but here we are.”
Almost a year on the couple are about to purchase their first home.
Holly Timlin and Jason Hargrave: Engaged with a child
Holly Timlin, 31, and Jason Hargrave, 39, lived within walking distance of each other for 10 years before Tinder brought them together.
It started with an after-work drink at a local pub with the Hillbank couple quickly noticing many coincidences that should have had them cross paths sooner.
“We were in Thailand at the same time, my neighbours are family friends with both of us and had been out to their Riverland property, we’ve been at a living and walking distance of each other for almost 10 years,” Holly said.
“We just talked non-stop, he walked me back to my car and asked to see me again, which happened to be a few days later.”
After three weeks of dating, they went on their first camping trip, and the rest was history.
“We bought our first home together two years ago and spent a year renovating the backyard,” Holly said.
“We have just had our first child who is now four months old.”
Baby Koah was born in October and their next step is planning a wedding after Jason proposed after four years together.
Rebekah Soda and Jackson Jenkins: Gym mates to soulmates
Each morning these northern-suburbs love birds would check each other out at the gym hoping the other would make the first move but it took a swipe right to connect.
“I remember one day I set myself up right in front of him, hoping he would look at me or say hi, but he was too nervous,” Rebekah Soda, 25, said.
Then she and Jackson Jenkins, 23, matched on Tinder.
“I had some pick up lines along the lines of ‘could probably squat more than you’ and he loved it,” she said.
“Turns out I was the red head he was crushing on every morning but we didn’t even know each other.
“I don’t know how many of you believe in soulmates but he is mine for sure.”
The gym mates-turned-soulmates were even more connected than they initially thought, later discovering Rebekah’s mum and Jackson’s dad had been school mates.
Laura Jones and Brenton Bauer: Together for five years with a blended family
A near triple-0 call doesn’t sound like the beginning of an online dating love story but it was for Laura Jones and Brenton Bauer, both 45.
Brenton was the first person Laura messaged on RSVP so the first time she visited his house she asked a friend to check in at 11pm “to make sure I wasn’t murdered in case he was a serial killer”.
The friend was so worried she almost called the cops.
“My friend messaged me repeatedly around that time but I had put my phone on silent as I was having such a great time and totally forgot,” Laura said.
“Luckily I checked my phone at midnight and apologised profusely and told her I was fine.”
Five and half years later, the Happy Valley blended family has welcomed a brand new addition — a cavoodle named Alfie.
And when will they get married?
“We aren’t married yet, I’m still waiting for the question,” Laura said.
Hint, hint Benton.
Amber Christie and Gerald Birkett: Parents
Amber Christie was only looking for a confidence boost when she joined Bumble after ending a six-year relationship.
But her phone had other plans when she threw it in her bag.
“While it was in my bag it happened to open the app Bumble and messaged a guy not once, but twice, which I didn’t know until he replied,” Amber said.
It was Gerald Birkett, who after an abundance of messages, replied with “whoa whoa slow down”. They stayed up until 3am chatting.
“We decided to see each other that day and go to the Mt Lofty Gardens for a photography date as we are both photographers,” she said.
Despite Gerald being an hour late to pick Amber up, the date was a huge success and five years on they are proud parents.
The Munno Para West couple welcomed baby girl Ayla on September 19.
“It wasn’t the most easiest pregnancy due to my health but Gerald was there for us,” Amber said.
“Each day we fall in love with each other more and more, but seeing the man you love become dad is a completely different love and nothing can beat that.”
Sophie Gillespie and Benjamin Dragovelic: Together for seven years
It started with an Adelaide Botanical Gardens picnic and this Tinder match has gone on to survive the ultimate relationship test in Sydney’s Covid lockdown.
Sophie Gillespie, 24, and Ben Dragovelic, 25 were just high school teens when they went on their first date in late 2015.
“I had been on a couple of Tinder dates, but my date with Ben felt different, he is a really charismatic person, and that was evident from the minute we met,” Sophie said.
“Ben is my best friend, and while I think Tinder is a bit of a mess, I’m glad I swiped right.”
Since then, Sophie said the young couple had “been through a lot together” – including long distance when Ben moved to Sydney for work.
“Of course I ended up moving to be with him, which was one of the best decisions I’ve made,” she said.
Then NSW went into lockdown in early 2020 – a moment in time Sophie described as “a test of most relationships” but said “she loved spending that much time together”.
Sophie and Ben are now back in Prospect and will celebrate their seventh anniversary this year.
Andy Thomas and Suzi Thonder: Together for five years
After 20 years out of the dating game Andy Thomas, 47, met Suzanne Thonder, 49.
He had joined Tinder after the breakdown of a long-term relationship that began before dating apps existed.
“Our first date was at a beer garden, I was nervous as hell,” Andy said.
“She had some bad experiences with dating and I knew this, so the pressure was immense.”
Four hours later they were still at the pub with a little encouragement from punters.
“We got up to leave and the tables of people behind us must have been people watching and gave us a clap and a cheer,” he said.
“It’s pretty funny as we people-watch a lot and we could imagine them seeing our date from start to finish.”
Suzi said initially she didn’t think Andy was the right guy for her as he was a “a bit rough around the edges”.
“I had never dated someone like that before. But, as I got to know him he has the biggest heart and the sweetest smile that just melts me,” she said.
Now, five years later, the “totally inseparable” couple live together in Mount Barker and share a business together.
“We are still very much in love, bought a house, own a business (Envirodog Pest Control) and work together not just in the office but our in the field too,” she said.
“On top of that we have four kids between us between the ages of 10 and 17 they all get along (which is crazy in itself). If you can do all that then something must be right!”
Jo and Ben: Married
When asked about their love story these Woodcroft newlyweds say, “we found happy”.
Jo, 42, and Ben, 31, both found navigating the dating world “a minefield” as single parents five years ago.
It was Ben who messaged Jo first on Plenty of Fish in 2018.
“I wondered how would I meet anyone? Especially with me having kids,” she said.
“Ben was the first and only date I ever went on using online dating. We had so much fun in our early dating days, dancing nights away in the city.”
Jo and Ben were married in April 2022, forming a blended family with two children each from previous relationships.
“It’s been a rocky road of ups and downs blending two families. The highlight was marrying Ben and having our children involved in our wedding day,” Jo said.
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