dating

It is confessions time people. I want to know who loves a bit of ‘X-Factor’ or ‘The Voice’? Who can’t get enough of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’? Who is desperate to be a contestant on ‘The Million Pound Drop Live’?

 

The reason I ask is because the extreme amount of reality TV shows available is about to get bigger. I was chuckling at the most recent episode of ‘Take Me Out’ when an email popped into my inbox. This email detailed the basis for not one, but two new reality shows focusing on dating. What is more, the producers of these new, as yet unreleased shows want you to apply to be in the first series! Yes, you!

 

So if you have always fancied yourself a bit of a cheeky chap who needs a bit of exposure on TV to make his dreams come true, keep reading. If you are a lovely lady looking to hit the headlines with a turn on television, carry on reading!

 

The first show the email detailed to me (and this is a corker) will appeal to all you Singstar fans. The show will be airing on Sky Living HD and is going to be named ‘Sing Date’. Yes, the name is a bit rubbish but the concept is all there in the title. The purpose of the show is to get a single women to pick three singing men out of ten possible candidates. Once she has picked, each man gets to sing a duet with the lovely lady. The show finishes with the lady choosing her favourite and the pair of them embarking on a date to record their own special duet. If you love your karaoke, or you just know you could do better than the last contestant of ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ when faced with a stage and spotlight then head to singdate@princesstv.com or call on 020 7985 1808. Applicants must be over 18 years old. If you make the show, I would love to hear from you and interview you about your experience!

 

Second on the list is yet another makeover show! This one will be airing on Channel 4 and sells itself as a sort of self-help guide for serial date-gone-wrong-ers. If you have had a string of bad luck where dating is concerned recently, or its been a while since you took the plunge in the dating pool this show is for you. The helpful people at Channel 4 will give you all the help you need to find out where you are going wrong and give you the chance to fix it! So if you are between the ages of 18-60 and fancy a makeover to help you with your dating confidence, then email datingmakeover@ricochet.co.uk or call them on 01273 224817. Again, if you enter this show I would really love to know what happens, how it goes for you and any backstage stories you pick up along the way!

 

Once upon a time, a young woman who liked jellybeans, sundresses and travelling decided she wanted to get back in the dating game. She was a little apprehensive of just jumping straight back in after a long relationship had turned sour and a friend recommended FreeAndSingle.

 

Nervously, she created a profile and started browsing through other peoples. Then came the time to reply to the first message. Flattered and pleased by the message (from an attractive man who liked dinosaurs, curry and action movies) she replied and they started talking.

 

After a week of excitedly checking her Free and Single mailbox, they decided to try a phone conversation. They didn’t stop talking until 1am and they both had work the next day!

 

This success and the chemistry they felt led them to arrange an actual date. With butterflies in their stomachs, new outfits and friends filling their ears with tips and advice they both set off to Leeds Castle in Kent for a trip around the grounds and high tea in the café.

 

Over scones, tea and jam they felt a connection, something worth pursuing. More dates were arranged, and three years later they remain happily together.

 

Have you had success with online dating? Has Free and Single given you a new lease of life in some way? I want to know if you have rediscovered a love of dating, thrown yourself into the arena for the first time or if you are just adding online dating to your repertoire of meeting people?

 

Here at FreeAndSingle, we are really interested in finding out about those lucky individuals who have found someone special using our website. Not just because it looks good for us either – we really believe that, at the end of the day, it’s better to have someone to connect with on some level. That’s just a basic human instinct, right?

 

So, if you have a success story you wouldn’t mind sharing…would you let me know? I would love to interview some of you to find out your tips for internet dating, or see a video of your favourite date?

 

I’m Caroline and you can find me on Twitter and Facebook – I’d love to connect with you and find out more about your dating experiences! I’m always on the look out for dating hints, awesome FreeAndSingle profiles to feature, funny dating videos and recipes that would be perfect to make for dinner a deux, not to mention good ideas for interesting dates!

It can make you nervous, but you have everything to gain in looking for love later in life

So you’ve been out of the game for a while.

 

Maybe you were married, maybe you have been busy raising kids or maybe you were looking into becoming one with the universe. Either way you have now made a choice to start the intriguing, sometimes painful and often highly entertaining path of looking for a new partner in the online dating world.   Thing is, you may be older and wiser now but it still feels like you have never dated before in your life. For some of our more mature denizens, that may even be true – different times, different traditions!

 

Whether dipping your toes into the pool for the first time or after an extended break from relationships, it doesn’t have to be the scary rip tide you are expecting. Instead, let yourself approach it as you would a holiday. Let yourself relax, and get ready to try new things.

 

People always say that by the time you are older you have discovered what and who you like, you know more about yourself than you ever did before and you are more confident in every aspect of your life. This could be true, but I defy anyone not to feel at least a slight twinge of nervousness before embarking on a new date, or even submitting a profile to Free and Single for the first time!

 

However, I would encourage you to enjoy the nervous flutters, to let yourself be excited and to discover whether you and your date have chemistry, are going to end up just friends or whether you just downright loathe each other on sight! After all, at the end of the day its another tale to add to your story and the anecdote, good or bad, will make for fabulous retelling at a dinner party or reunion event.

 

Excellent, having decided to take the leap, lets discuss venues. Dinner a deux is a classic of course, but a tad extreme if you are really nervous to put yourself right into the conversational gambit mode! May I suggest an activity to ensure a topic to talk about should all else fail you? You could visit a vineyard or a cidery and have a tasting, you could visit an aquarium to point at strange underwater creatures and shudder at sharks or you could hire vespas and take a tour of the town before stopping at a roadside inn to discuss the views and the people you passed.

 

I’m a big fan of alternative dates where imagination is key and just letting yourself enjoy it comes first, so put those thinking caps on! I’d love to hear your ideas too, so please tweet me @freeandsingle and have a look at Free and Single Parent or Mature Free and Single to find others in similar positions.

Whether you celebrated Valentine’s Day as a couple or a single, it’s all in the past now. It is almost like a second New Year’s Day, as you vow that this time next year you’ll have met someone, or changed this, or tried that to improve your luck when the next February 14th rolls around.

 

In this new light of promise then, why not try online dating? The success rates speak for themselves and for those reluctant to try it out, ask yourself; Why?

 

Is it the ability to narrow down who might suit you and who might not at the click of a button, instead of sorting through them manually in a crowded bar, stopping you?

 

Is the terrible notion of being able to let your friends vet your choices (or indeed, prevent them from having any say in the matter at all) without actually having to perform introductions, preventing you from turning on the computer?

 

Here’s one: You can peruse the lists however much you like, but you can do it in the comfort of your pyjamas and wait to get dressed up until it is actually worth it and you have a date to impress.

 

Whatever persuades you to try internet dating, let there be a few standards kept in mind.

 

-When choosing a picture, think of how it portrays you. A drunken pose with your girlfriends in the local club sends out the wrong signal, really, doesn’t it? As does a picture taken years ago, when you were 5lbs lighter or didn’t have quite so much of a receeding hairline… Take this opportunity to dress up nicely and take a proper picture of the way you are at the present (no use starting out on a lie, leads to heartache later).

 

-When filling in your profile, do so truthfully. Embellishments are all very well, but saying you are good friends with Prince Harry when your closest connection is your best mate’s sister’s hairdresser’s cousin who saw him once, maybe, at a bar in London is only going to make you look foolish when the truth comes out.

 

-When looking for a possible date, don’t judge too harshly. After all, you’re not perfect and you can’t expect every date to be. Don’t dismiss someone just because their hair is straight and you prefer curly, or because they support Manchester United. Everyone deserves a chance and your perfect match could be the least likely suspect – after all, its not like your ‘usual type’ tends to work out well for you, or you wouldn’t be here. How about narrowing down your list to a category like ‘cuddly’ or ‘professional’ and using Free and Single to aim your profile at people you actually want to be contacting you?

 

-Once you have chosen a likely few people to be your first dates, its time for the hard part. The making contact, the breaking of the ice! This takes bravery, it will be tricky. The good thing is that once you have a list of people picked out that you would like to know more about, you can approach them all while you are feeling courageous! Send out a message and see who replies.

 

-Even if it all goes up in the air and the first person you message doesn’t even reply, you can simply pick yourself up, dust yourself off and chat to the next on your list. They don’t know you just got rejected. In fact, nobody does because nobody saw it happen – it was all online! Serendipity is the bravery to just chat to people. After all, you’ll never know what could have been if you don’t even try to start with, do you?

New Year

Resolutions. We’ve all made them, we’ve all broken them. That is all in the past now though and I need you to be looking at the present, and the future. 2013. This is your year to shine.

 

New You

There is no need to give yourself a mile-long list of things you need to change about yourself in order to make the best of the year and reach your full potential. Think small – I’m talking small, manageable changes. Slight alterations in your already established habits that could really make a difference? Are you one of the thousands who are promising themselves that 2013 is the year they will get fit? Maybe that you are aiming for a promotion at work?

 

Well, don’t just sit there! Having a goal is all very well, but without a plan to achieve your aim your resolution is going to be over and done with by the 3rd January.

If you are trying to get fit, don’t buy a gym membership and congratulate yourself on your fitness forethought.

  • Go for a walk every day for a week before you even think about laying down your plastic.
  • Try walking instead of taking the car to the shops.
  • Take the stairs during the department store sales instead of the elevator.
  • Write up a program of treats you get every time you make one of your goals – lost a pound? Take an hour off chores to watch a film. Finally managed to run 1 mile? Buy yourself some proper trainers to encourage you continuing.
If you are looking to get promoted, don’t rest on your laurels from last year’s successes.
  • Put forth a plan on how you will accomplish your promotion.
  • Arrange a review with your manager to discuss what you can do to be eligible for promotion.
  • Schedule in some extra time to devote to developing your ideas or writing reports to show willing.
  • Be available to help out and be there with ideas when they are needed.
Think about the end goal, but also put a plan in place to help you get there. For example, if your resolution is to meet someone to form a relationship, or just to get out dating more, it will never happen unless you take the first step and try to make it happen. Be more open to opportunities, ask your friends to help set you up, join an online dating website, say ‘yes’ to people you wouldn’t usually date and be willing to experience new things in your search.

New Dates

If you are looking for new dates in 2013, or just on the hunt for a special relationship don’t treat the aim as the be all and end all. After all, dating and finding your partner in life should be enjoyable!

Have a think about what you want to gain from dating – casual flings, steady dating or a proper relationship – maybe even marriage? Once you know what you are looking to find, it will be easier to spot and you are more likely to be successful.

We at Free and Single recommend reading over some of our articles on getting started online dating to help you out in the beginning;