Swipe Right To Date A Celebrity

Beautiful, famous and looking for love? Charlotte Edwards slips through the portals of the A-list’s answer to Tinder.

For 20 thrilling seconds peeking over the shoulder of a Raya member, I have a keyhole view of the dating app for A-listers, and, oh my word,it’s fun. First, there’s a Hollywood actor, aged around 33 – not that hot, but very talented. Wasn’t he up for an Oscar? But he lives in LA, and we don’t. Next. Is that a football player? Actually, I hate football. X him (an X and a heart are Raya’s version of left and right swipes). Ooh, it’s DJ-I’ve vaguely-heard-of. Look what fun he’s having in his profile picture. Is he at a club in Ibiza? Next! This one has an incredible tan, laughing off the world’s cares on his yacht.

And as I laugh with him, the app is minimised on my Raya-friend’s iPhone, and the fun disappears like cocaine down the plughole in a police raid. “I can’t show you any more,” she says. “I’ll be thrown out.” Because Raya is all about exclusivity and secrecy. It is a dating app for those “too famous” to mix with civilians.

Since it launched in March 2015, the names of a few members have been leaked to the media. Among them: Cara Delevingne and Samantha Ronson (ex of Lindsay Lohan and DJ sister of Mark), Harry Potter actress Bonnie Wright, Ruby Rose, and Jennifer Lawrence’s ex, Nicholas Hoult. Other high-profile users include Elijah Wood, Zach Braff, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Matthew Perry, Teri Hatcher, John Cusack and designer Alexander Wang.

After Kelly Osbourne’s profile was exposed online in August 2015, Raya introduced a banner that popped up when users tried to take a screenshot, threatening expulsion from the app if the picture appeared anywhere public.