If you think that finding love is a struggle, it could be worse – you could be famous.
Over the years, numerous celebrities have spoken out after being ditched from dating apps due to the app’s belief they’re not who they say they are – and the latest star to fall victim to this is Gethin Jones.
The Welsh host kickstarted his career on Blue Peter before hosting, among other things, The One Show, This Morning and Morning Live, which he currently presenter. He’s also appeared as a contestant on both Strictly Come Dancing and Celebrity MasterChef.
With a stacked schedule, Jones thought he’d use Hinge to aid his love life – and while he proved a hit among its users, with hundreds of right swipes, there were many who simply didn’t believe it was him.
The host said on the Restless Natives podcast, which is hosted by Martin Compston and Gordon Smart: “A couple of weeks ago I was kicked off Hinge twice in eight hours for violating the Code of Conduct. Three hundred women had reported me for catfishing.
“It was that moment when you have to write to Hinge, on a Thursday night, all alone, ‘Dear Hinge, it’s Gethin here, 46. I just want to get my money back because it’s not really working for me,’ eating some cereal because there’s nothing in the fridge. That’s when I’m like, ‘What am I doing with my life.”
A workaround for stars who want to use dating apps without the fear of being booted off is Raya, an app specifically aimed at celebrities.
Unlike apps such as Hinge or Tinder, membership to Raya isn’t as simple as creating a profile as it requires interested users to submit an application.
“Once submitted, applications are placed in queue and reviewed continually,” the app’s description in the app store reads. “An applicant’s status can change from ‘waitlisted’ to ‘accepted’ at any time.
Many stars use Raya including Lily Allen, who met her husband David Harbour on there, while a TikTok user previously claimed she had matched with Ben Affleck on the app.
Jones was previously engaged to opera singer Katherine Jenkins, whom he met when she performed on Strictly in 2007.
They had an “awful” breakup in 2011, following which Jones said he became depressed.
He told the Mirror’s Outdoors in Mind: “I was engaged and then breaking up, afterwards, or even during that period, it was just awful.
“I remember doing BBC Radio 5 Live and going into the toilet at 5.30am going, ‘All right. Come on. Just focus for the next three hours, and then you can go back to being sad again.’ I definitely had a bad bout of depression during that time.”
