Dating disasters revealed

The reasons why our attempts to find love don't always go to plan.

14:22 14 July 2009

We've all been there… sat at the restaurant, twiddling our thumbs, desperately thinking of something to say without wanting to sound too me, me, me – unfortunately, this is the joyous world of dating. But if your last attempt ended in a spark as soggy as a dog's chew toy, then don't worry you're not alone.

A new survey by forcespenpals.co.uk has revealed the women's most common reasons for disastrous dates and their nightmare experiences. Over 47% of the women surveyed ruled that meeting a boring man was the most problematic result. 

The top five reasons for a solo outing with their date were:

1. The date was boring and had nothing interesting to say.
2. The date started chatting up someone else whilst they were together.
3. They were dumped in the restaurant and had to pick up the bill.
4. The date brought someone else with them (friend or even relative).
5. The date just walked out without saying anything.

The bad news is there are likely to be many more where the bad experiences came from. The good news is that at least in time you will have some funny anecdotes to gossip about with your friends over a nice glass of wine.

The rules of dating generally dictate that unfortunately you'll have to go through a few frogs before you find anything close to resembling a prince, but some dates are so terrible that they defy belief.

Here are some of the most bizarre encounters reported in the study:

 "Our first date was visiting his grandmother in a care home for dinner and bingo"

• "I was dressed to impress for a stroll along the river to a fab local and we spent it fishing!"
• "My date took his shoe off to show me how good the tread was"
• "The venue he arranged to meet me in turned out to be a nudist spa"
• "My dates wifeÂ’s best friend turned up in the same bar"

With everyone having such busy lives these days, it is hard to meet new people, let alone potential love interests. Online dating is a great method for doing just that.

Internet dating has moved on from the desperation aisles to being a really great way to get to know new people of all ages and perhaps even the love of your life.

Search for singles in your area on the Supadates channel, and who knows... you may find the one!