Joel Dommett talks about romance and dating disasters
Comedian and I’m A Celebrity runner-up Joel Dommett tells Hannah Stephenson about his romantic encounters and dating disasters before he found the woman he’s going to marry
He’s a hopeless romantic who has just got engaged to model Hannah Cooper, but comedian and I’m A Celebrity runner-up Joel Dommett has had his fair share of disastrous dates and embarrassing romantic encounters.
In his memoir, It’s Not Me, It’s Them, the 32-year-old funnyman reveals a lot about his previous dating catastrophes, from being a virgin teenager, kissing in “the way you attack a dripping Mr Whippy” and almost losing his virginity until he realised the condom was past its sell-by date to his adventures in the world of dating apps Tinder, Bumble and Plenty of Fish.
What do you think about meeting people through dating sites?
It’s a massive part of our culture and it’s changed dating forever, but there’s something about being petrified about going up and speaking to someone and being scared about whether they are going to reply or not, which I think is really important.
When you are messaging 20 people at once and going on a date every night of the week, that can also be unhealthy, because you don’t get past the tiny flaw. You think a person might have strange eyebrows, so you swipe them away. It’s making us more fussy.
How many bad dates have you had?
I’ve gone on so many terrible dates. I had a lot of online dates. I probably did it solidly for about four months and then got bored of it and realised I needed to do something else.
A lot of people didn’t look like their photos and they pretended to be someone else. At least when you meet someone on Instagram you can see more of their profile and under- stand better what their personality is, rather than judging by five
photos on a Tinder account.
What’s your advice on the best way of meeting someone?
The best way to meet someone is just to be really honest, especially now when we date so many people. There are all these dating apps out now. Just be yourself and someone out there will be right for you. If you’re pretending to be somebody, they’re only going to find out that it’s not you — and they’re going to find out.
Where shouldn’t you go on a first date?
Restaurants are risky if you haven’t been there before, and TripAdvisor reviews are the Tinder for restaurants. And it’s also so intimate to watch someone eat.
Don’t go to a comedy club on a first date. Going on a date to watch someone else do something is a terrible idea. You should do something where you can interact. A theme park is really good, because you can get scared together and hold on to each other.
You met Hannah on Instagram. How did that happen?
She sent me a cat emoji with heart eyes when she was really drunk. I had a really good look at her pictures — I went right back, at least to 2015. We messaged back and forth and I thought she was really funny.
You announced your engagement on Instagram, posting a video of a toilet lock first reading ‘vacant’ and then ‘engaged’. You’ve also posted naked pictures to your 570,000 Instagram followers. Why?
On holiday in Thailand, we were naked most of the time, so it made sense. It’s okay. I don’t think people mind. I think it’s hilarious. Instagram is a documentary of your life and that’s what I was doing in my life at a particular moment.
And how did you propose?
I proposed to Hannah at the end
❝
Messaging 20 people at once and going on a date every night can be unhealthy