You don’t have to scroll too far on TikTok to discover how grim the current online dating scene is. The horror stories are relentless: People are reportedly ghosting mid-vacation, lying about their identities, and exhibiting straight-up rude or sketchy behavior—which, if you’re single, can make it impossibly hard to believe that swiping right will ever work in your favor.
Sure, most people would probably prefer an IRL meet-cute (who wouldn’t?), but there are times when it’s worth pushing through the awkwardness and logging in, yet again, for another chance at love. It might sound corny, but that’s exactly what the people below did—and it paid off. Despite running into some very weird vibes along the way, they stuck it out on the apps and ultimately met their match.
So to clear the fog of jadedness from modern singlehood, if only just a little, we asked eight people to share their online dating success stories—from bad beginnings to very happy endings.
I thought I was going to pass out.
“We went to get a coffee. He kept asking weird questions and then decided it would be nice to go for a walk. We live in Australia and it was summer, so I thought, Okay, it’ll just be a nice little stroll. Nope! I think we walked for three hours in the blazing sun. I thought I was going to pass out. I kept asking if we could sit down, and we would for, like, three minutes and then he’d be like, ‘Come on, let’s keep walking.’ Eventually, we got back to where we started. I was dripping in sweat and had a headache. I immediately ordered an Uber and ended up having to drink a heap of Hydralyte when I got home because I was throwing up from heat exhaustion.
On another bad date, the guy seemed normal when we were chatting online, but I met him and he was an absolute creep. He just gave me bad vibes and kept getting handsy in the restaurant. I was so uncomfortable. Then he said he couldn’t pay, so I got stuck with a $90 bill.
A year ago, I met my current partner, Chris, on Tinder. I used the app on and off, and we already matched a few times but never made plans to meet up, mostly because he lived 45 minutes away. I had just ended a situationship and completely stopped dating, but I kept thinking of Chris, so I paid the $14 to get unlimited swipes, narrowed down my search, and spent the next three days swiping like it was my job. We matched, he invited me to a rugby game, and we’ve spent as much time together as possible ever since. I can’t believe how lucky I got. We’re closer than ever and I’m still absolutely smitten.” —Leteisha, 31, Brisbane, Australia
He didn’t believe in sunscreen.
“It was summer 2019. My date asked me to try his seafood, and I teased him for ordering it because we don’t live in a coastal state. He pressed, so I played along and took a bite, and then we both got food poisoning and became violently ill. On date three, while playing mini golf at night, he said he didn’t think anyone had gone to the moon. In the summer of 2021, I got ice cream with a different man who told me five minutes into the date that he didn’t believe in sunscreen. Later, the topic of tattoos came up, and I dropped the bomb that my tattoo is a melanoma ribbon in honor of my dad, who died from skin cancer.
In September 2021, I reactivated my Hinge account just to find a concert date. I got more than I bargained for. That date is now my fiancé!” —Erin, 29, Columbus, Ohio
He dropped the F-bomb every other word.
“In 2016, I was on a date when I ran into a previous Tinder date of mine. He was pissed that I was out with someone else and let me know afterward. Another time, I was at a local pizza place with a guy who dropped the F-bomb every other word—I swear too, but yikes. Another guy only talked about himself for over an hour and basically never came up for air.
I really started to get discouraged right before I met my husband because I had been on so many dates that hadn’t blossomed. I met him right before I wrote it all off. We connected pretty instantly and got married almost five years to the day we first met. We welcomed our son a little over a year later and are trying for number two now. He is the best man I have ever known, he’s a wonderful father, and he’s my best friend. We lament all the time how different and horrible our lives would be if we never matched!” —Ellen, 31, Portland, Maine
I woke up to an email asking for $8,000.
“I started talking to a man in January 2022 on OurTime.com. He told me I was beautiful and he loved my smile. He lived in Flagstaff, Arizona, a town just 80 miles away from me. I went there often, so I offered to make the drive, but he was always gone on business trips. A week into connecting, we spent four to five hours daily talking. He brought up marriage the fourth week in…we still had not met. There were lots of things that I questioned, but I would Google the information he was feeding me and it all turned out to be true or close to truth.
Then one morning, I woke up to an email asking for $8,000! I told him no. He tried to make me feel guilty for not helping him. He would cry and tell me how sick he was and how he just wanted to come home to me. We went back and forth for a few more weeks and then I ended it.
I met my husband, Norm, about a year later on another dating site. I was afraid to try online dating again, but we took it very slow. I remember the first time we talked on the phone, he told me he felt like he had known me forever. I eventually flew up to be with him and meet his family for Thanksgiving, and he proposed to me that weekend. I went back to his town to spend Christmas with him and his adult children and grandchildren. We were married a couple months later.” —Nella, 62, Logan, Utah
He didn’t listen until food was being chucked at his head.
“I was definitely in my hookup phase, but I matched with this guy on Tinder, met him at a popular bar in our college town for bingo night, and then he came back to my place. It didn’t go very smoothly, and the dude would not leave the next morning, so I had to ask my roommates for help. My girl was making pancakes and took all of her ugly ones and threw them at him while yelling at him that he needed to leave. He finally got the hint. I was too nice, and he didn’t listen until food was being chucked at his head.
Two months later, I met my partner on the same app. He thought I ghosted him because I dropped my phone in a pool and didn’t respond for a few days. I specifically redownloaded Tinder on my new phone to talk to him again, and I was a goner after the first few dates. We talked for six-plus hours, and I had to ask for a kiss on the third date. He was such a Southern gentleman and was so charming and sweet.” —Lauren, 29, Birmingham, Alabama
We ended it with a rushed and silent dinner at a Mexican restaurant 30 minutes before it closed.
“I met this guy on Tinder, and we connected over similar work ethics. He asked if I wanted to go to the lake, and I said that sounded great. I met up with him at a grocery store to get some drinks, thinking we were going to have a scenic picnic. I opted for a cutesy bottle of wine and he grabbed a handle of Jim Beam—red flag number one. Then, his card was declined at the check-out. He told the cashier (did not ask!) to try again and had to use a different card. We walked out, I told him what my car looked like, and he said, ‘I’m the truck with the boat.’
There was no mention of his speed boat in our plans, and I’m terrified of being out of control, so I immediately freaked out. When we arrived, I said, ‘I didn’t know you were bringing your boat!’ He responded, impulsively: ‘Yeah, I didn’t know either, until today.’ It just felt so irresponsible and dangerous. The chance of having cell service was slim, and I didn’t know this guy. We drove around the lake after I told him my anxieties and he pretty much dismissed them. The ‘date’ ended with a rushed, silent dinner at a Mexican restaurant 30 minutes before it closed. He gave me my wine and we never spoke again.
My current partner and I met on Tinder as well. We connected on a friend level after I went through a really bad breakup and initially stopped talking because she thought we had ‘dry conversations,’ but that was because I didn’t know what I wanted. We reconnected about two months later. I took a risk with her and she pursued me, even when I was still healing. As my walls came down, I fell in love with her. We just got engaged after two years of dating. We’re very happy.” —Jamie, 31, Cincinnati
I started losing faith in finding a match because I have a disability.
“The guys I went on dates with were nice at first, but later they would talk less or just ghost. I started losing faith in finding a match because I have a disability. There were a lot of assumptions made. One guy acted like he was okay with me being in a wheelchair and then, months in, changed his mind. I felt like he wasted my time. I had to go through a lot of awkward and inappropriate questions and sex jokes. There’s often a misconception that disabled people are incapable of sex. I could tell who was talking to me for the right reasons, depending on how the conversation went: Some guys were respectful, and some were not.
My partner and I met the first week I joined Match. We didn’t chat for very long on the app before going on a date. The one thing we both noticed right away was how easily we could talk. Our first date lasted four hours! Every date after that was the same. With other guys, I always felt like I had to explain my disability. My partner told me that he wanted to get to know me as a person. We are coming up on our first wedding anniversary. I really love having someone to live life with.” —Melissa, 32, Philadelphia
I got on my soapbox and defended the merit of my profession.
“I started chatting with this engineer on Tinder. He took me to a café and began rambling on about engineering, and even though it was boring, I listened attentively. He asked what I did, and I told him I was studying high school education, and he proceeded to tell me that he’s happy I’m not ‘lazy like those elementary teachers,’ which I thought was an insane thing to say. Then he said: ‘You know what they say, those who can’t do, teach,’ which is also extremely rude. I got on my soapbox and defended the merit of my profession, and we had a bit of a debate. He asked for separate checks, and I had to get my muffin in a to-go box. Then, in the parking lot, he tried to kiss me! I was so confused.
My partner, Brandon, and I met on Tinder in 2016, about a year or two after a string of bad dates. Unfortunately, I had just been broken up with and was not ready to settle down. He told me that if I ever figured out what I wanted, I could give him a call. I felt terrible and took a ‘boy fast,’ where I didn’t really date anyone for two years while I got my shit together. Then, in 2019, I was ready to let him in and DM’d him on Instagram, and we’ve been together ever since! We’re getting married next summer.” —Regan, 31, Cleveland
Related:
- ‘All My Exes Are Crazy’ Is a Relationship Red Flag You Should Take Seriously
- 9 People on the Signs of Cheating They Wish They’d Paid Attention to Sooner
- Dating in Your 30s Is Hard Enough—Here’s What It’s Like If You Also Have Breast Cancer
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