Will Online Dating Work For Me?

Julia Stephenson, 54, set out to find her match on dating websites. So what happened next?

“When was my eight year relationship came to an end, I  heartbroken. Though it was the last thing that I felt like doing, I reluctantly joined a dating website. My friends had advised a period of reflection, but I reasoned that at my age I’d better get on with it.

And, as they say, the quickest way to get over a man is to get under another, so I signed up and my inbox was soon deluged by messages from attractive men. I perked up; I’d obviously stumbled across the planet of lost men.

But, disappointingly, although I was being contacted by about five men a day, all they were doing was sending me endless questionnaires to fill in. These would come with a standard line: ‘Norman, 60, would like to find out a bit more about you!’ As I had already filled in a form with what felt like 1 000 questions when I joined, I didn’t want to fill in anymore. Plus, very few of them could spell. I wilted when Colin, 55, contacted me and misspelt the name of the town I was born in.

One man stood out though: Ned, 59. He was just my type – brawny and weather-beaten with a deliciously thick neck. I surmised that he must be handy as he worked on an oil rig, and I secretly thrilled at the thought of him bundled up in oilskins while his huge frame was buffeted by freezing winds.

I put up with filling in another questionnaire from him as he seemed so promising, although I balked at answering: ‘When you go to a party do you usually like to leave before your partner, or are you the life and soul?’ I hate parties and always leave as soon as I decently can, but I’m hardly likely to admit this to the potential man of my dreams, am I?

Ned sent me another questionnaire but I ignored it, and instead jumped straight to e-mail communication!

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