London

Jade

Jade, 23
Well, the experience was definitely fun, but it didn’t amount to Mr. Perfect. I got about 30 responses and I asked each one to submit a photo. It was also good fun for me and my girlfriends, just weeding through the emails – some of them were bizarre. After communicating with a few over email,

I went on a date. We met for a drink in Angel – he was perfectly nice, but the sparks weren’t there (at my end, at least). Then I met someone else not related to Time Out – though I think the story amused him – and spent some time with him.

The whole bit about publicly broadcasting my single status was hilarious. I was finishing up a degree then, so classmates and teachers would call me and ask what I was doing on the cover. Feature continues

On the date in Angel, the guy was at the bar, and I was outside scouting for seats. I looked to my right and these two guys were sitting on a bench – one had the magazine on his lap and he was shelling peanuts, literally dropping the empty shells all over my face. They didn’t even see me, but it was a twilight-zone moment. I’ve actually just moved back to the States, but the dating scene isn't much different from London. Overall, being on the Time Out cover was a fun and interesting experience – but I wish I could tell you a juicier story about weekends away in Monaco!

Pez, 31
I must admit that I did go into the whole Time Out dating thing as a bit of a laugh, more than anything. I didn’t actually find someone through the magazine, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. If I’m honest, I thought that the photo that you actually ended up using of me was awful (my family agreed it made me look like a crim), but that’s probably my fault from going out drinking the night before. I just couldn’t believe that after that many photos, I still looked shocking! Even if it was a failure as a dating exercise for me, I loved the whole thing. I love doing things that are new, interesting and unusual, and I’d do something like this again in a heartbeat. If nothing else, I was the point of conversation for a few weeks among my friends – and all publicity is good publicity as far as I’m concerned.

Franziska, 37
I had a few emails, and I met up with two people, but they unfortunately didn’t turn out to be as exciting as they sounded. Pretty typical, really!
I have been dating separately from Time Out, without success. I didn’t mind doing the dating thing with Time Out for the special issue; however, I would never have, or will, do online dating. But it was definitely worth the experience.

If you’re single and looking to brave London’s dating scene (and the stories above haven’t put you off), visit www.dating.timeout.com