AARON PATEL, 22 STUDENT

Aaron Patel, 22, a student from London, hasn’t dated face-to-face since March.

“Before Covid, dating was a stress in my life. I’ve been using Tinder for three years but never had a proper relationship to the point where you’re calling it official. That worried me. I’d make my best effort, try to look as good as I could, but my lack of confidence held me back a bit.

Then lockdown happened, no one could go on dates, all the pressure was off. I went back to live with my family – I have eight siblings, so there were lots of us and home is a really comfortable place to be. My hair grew really badly in length and width, I lived in my gym clothes and just felt very relaxed.

Dating slowed down. I did meet one girl on Tinder and we had a lot of video calls – when I could find a quiet, private space. It was probably the best dating experience I’ve ever had, and at one point, we were talking every other day. She saw me at home, looking a mess, we had fun conversations but also quite deep ones with no pressure to move things forward. We were hoping to meet in April, then May,

LEARNING TO WORRY LESS

Aaron Patel says he’s in no hurry to meet someone but lockdown stretched into June and our connection kind of petered out. We’re still messaging occasionally, but it’s not the way it was, so I don’t know if we’ll meet in person – but that’s OK. I’m grateful for the experience.

It’s weird, but this time out has been really good for me. I’m more chilled, more confident. Covid showed there were bigger things to worry about. Life’s too short to stress about dating. I haven’t met any dates face to face since March but I’m in no hurry. It’ll happen eventually.”

‘I feel more chilled. Covid has shown that life’s too short to stress about dating’