Dating stories, Blind Date reviews, books, relationships, LGBTQ stuff and the terrifying awkwardness of being alive in the 21st century

I am obsessed by the Guardian’s incredible Blind Date column, which I pretend I loathe but obviously I love it.Aren’t you? Don’t you? Why ever not? Anyway, for reasons nobody can quite understand, I review the answers the participants give, and blog it for your delectation every Saturday morning, unless I’m having the day off, which is RARE.

Who are you? I’m a freelance writer and author, and one of the things I do is write under the name of The Guyliner – which began on this very blog, back in June 2010. 2010, wow. God. Why do y…

Feb 8, 2025 · Time was, I would review this Blind Date column every week, but nowadays it’s very rare for me to do two weeks in a row. Time gets away from me, my brain doesn’t work on Saturday mornings any more, I no longer wake up still drunk, so the inclination isn’t always there.

Nov 2, 2024 · Will the first date of November give us something to remember? Only one way to find out. Ducking for apples this week are Alan, 33, a marketing manager and on the left, and Robert, 30, who is a doctor and, obviously, on the right.

I’ve written four novels so far, with a fifth due in 2025. My first book deal, in 2017, was with Little, Brown and produced two novels, comedies (more or less): The Last Romeo (2018), and The Magnificent Sons (2020). In 2021, I collaborated with Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing on his fun memoir I Can Explain.It’s good!

Feb 1, 2025 · This week’s lovestruck strangers are Holly, 42, an NHS service manager, and Johnny, 45, a product manager, both of whom look a little like PSHE teachers you would definitely feel comfortable coming out to – but they would probably make you do a chorus or two of ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ before the end of the little chat.

We talk a lot about the relationships that matter to us the most, and what happens when they go wrong....

Pretty much all my childhood, my mother worked weekends, and on weekends I wasn't seeing my father or his family,...

Life in Food, April 2022. Fellow authorand food writer Laura Price has a new podcast looking at food through a different lens each episode. My turn was a look at food and dating, where we chatted about the rights and wrongs of eating on dates, but also the gentrification of working-class food, Yorkshire puddings, and why onions are a first date no-no.