STRICTLY Come Dancing star Judi Love has opened up about the difficulties of online dating when you’re over 40.
The Loose Women favourite, 42, who starred on the BBC dancing competition last year, is backing a new campaign helping fortysomethings avoid falling into certain traps when finding love on the internet.
Judi has revealed her tips for online dating over 40
The Loose Women star is supporting Get Online Week
She said: “Online dating when you’re over 40 can be a minefield – from finding the right app for you, creating the right profile, taking your best picture and making conversation with different personalities you meet online.”
It comes as single over-40s have revealed the biggest pitfalls of online dating – including not knowing how to use to use dating apps, discovering their date is married, and fears of being catfished.
A poll of 750 adults aged 40-plus who are not in a relationship found meeting a partner through digital dating has been a struggle for 74 per cent of the 31 per cent who’ve tried it.
A lack of digital skills has proven to be one of the biggest stumbling blocks when attempting to find love online – with 59 per cent claiming this has hindered them in their pursuit.
Other downsides to digital dating, according to those aged 40 and above, include knowing how to start a conversation online and being clueless what to say in their ‘about me’ section.
Picking the perfect profile pic has also been a challenge for many – as has being able to recognise their date in real life, having never met them before.
The research was commissioned by Virgin Media O2 to help improve the nation’s digital skills through Get Online Week.
Judi is championing the initiative, adding: “Get Online Week is a great opportunity to brush up on your online skills and develop your digital mojo to gain confidence and put yourself out there.
“If you’re looking for love, it’s never too late to start.”
The study also found 54 per cent who’ve experimented with online dating said they can’t ‘get their head around’ the apps.
And 15 per cent of everyone polled claim not to know what swiping left or right means, while 12 per cent can’t create a dating profile, and 14 per cent don’t know how to take a profile pic.
Further drawbacks to online dating include discovering a date’s bio details are inaccurate and realising the spark they’d had when conversing online was non-existent in person.
It also emerged 18 per cent are ‘scared’ to try dating over the internet – with 46 per cent of the opinion this method of finding a partner is ‘a young person’s game.’
Yet the study carried out through OnePoll found 20 per cent claim not to know how to meet someone in ‘real life.’
Nicola Green, at Virgin Media O2, added: “We’re proudly partnering with Good Things Foundation to help the nation to improve their digital skills during Get Online Week.
“We hope our free digital skills masterclasses being held across the UK, plus Judi’s top tips will give singletons the confidence to try online dating and find the love of their lives.”
To find out more about Get Online Week and see Judi Love’s top online dating tips, go to https://uk.getonlineweek.com/
Judi appeared on last year’s Strictly Come Dancing
