Online dating via apps like Tinder has become so normalised that it’s hard to remember what it was like back in the early days of the internet.

Back then, meeting strangers online was viewed as distinctly odd. You were definitely not meant to be proud of it and most people would never admit that their partner had come from a dating app.

Today, people are much more relaxed about it and the idea of a grown adult choosing to meet partners via an app is totally accepted.

But that doesn’t mean things always go smoothly.

Let’s look at some of the times Tinder dates went weird!

·         “He put on a weird Italian art film and started nuzzling my face”

This anonymous Reddit user accepted a date with a guy after chatting for a few weeks. She naively agreed to go to his home to watch a movie. When she got there he put the movie on and she realised he’d chosen one in Italian and without subtitles. Shortly after it began, he curled up in her lap without an invitation and began nuzzling her face “like a cat”. The horrified user said, “Even his dog looked at me with pity”. She made a swift exit after this and vowed never to go to a prospective date’s home again!

·         “He drove me round open houses and pretended we were a couple”

This odd date went wrong the moment Reddit user “curlyorstraight” agreed to go into an open house viewing with their love interest. After wandering around the property, her date drove around more open houses and at each, he pretended they were an established couple looking to buy. She didn’t go out with him again.

·         “I took her on a fake date so I could make sure she ate”

A kind-hearted man posted on one online forum that he felt so sorry for a friend of a friend who was struggling that he invited the couch-surfing student on a date just so he could buy her dinner. He pretended to be romantically interested in her so that she could accept food without embarrassment. The poster says she’s doing much better these days but still thinks they went on a date!

·         “She wanted me to pretend to be her new husband”

An anonymous Redditor said he was flattered when a beautiful woman invited him to her class reunion after chatting on Tinder for weeks. He accepted and was excited for the date but after she picked him up she made it clear that he was expected to pretend they were married. The user clarified, “She said all of her old school friends were married and she was the only one who wasn’t.” He agreed to it and spent an awkward evening nodding in agreement at her made-up stories!

·         “He asked me if I would lend him money and then cried when I said no”

This unfortunate date went wrong the moment the “couple” entered the bar. He asked her to buy the drinks and she agreed but then, the Redditor says, “He asked me if I could spot him fifty dollars so he could eat that week!” She refused and he cried in the middle of the bar telling her, “I’ve got a thing about asking for money.” Not much you can say to that…except no!

People pushing boundaries on a date is nothing new, but what if it’s an established partner and they turn nasty?

That’s what happened to one of Tinder’s original founders, Whitney Wolfe Herd when her relationship with fellow founder Justin Mateen went wrong.

He turned nasty and called her names in addition to threatening her via text.

What did she do? She turned to Tinder CEO Sean Rad for support, telling him all about what was happening.

Did he assist? Did he heck! Rad called her “dramatic” and ignored the situation!

He did lose his position as CEO eventually and Wolfe Herd’s case was settled out of court. But was that the end of Rad’s run-ins at Tinder?

No, of course not. He was caught out secretly recording Tinder employees back in 2019 in an effort to prove that he’d been swindled out of stocks by the huge corporation and got hit with a countersuit for his efforts!