Dating Wrapped 2025
14 dates, 5 men blocked, and the archive jail is stocked, but ultimately I wouldn't change a thing
Another year down. I joined in on the Dating Wrapped trend on TikTok back in 2023. It was my first real foray into dating app dating that year, as a serial relationship girl.
The year before that, I had gotten divorced and in that time had been freshly dumped over WhatsApp by my childhood best friend, so it’s safe to say it was a chaotic first few years of proper singlehood.
This year, I actually tracked my dates on an Excel spreadsheet. I’m no statistician, but I figured if I was doing this year on year, I need a way to actually remember who these men are when I inevitably delete the apps (which happens often).
My spreadsheet is nothing fancy, I just write down their basic stats, when we went on our date, what we did, how I felt after the date, and if we ever go out again for subsequent dates, I’ll log that too. I have a notes section as well for anything else I want to journal about.
It’s all a bit of fun, and it makes it easy to put my deck together. But it has made it all the more clear to me that all of this is a numbers game. I went on 14 dates this year. Of those 14, 5 converted into second dates, and 3 turned into three or more consecutive dates. I think that’s pretty decent conversion, given the state of things!
You can watch this year’s Dating Wrapped here. And last year’s here.
My mindset in 2023 and 2024 was a desperate one. I was trying to have fun but I was also trying to prove to myself that my divorce wasn’t a strike against me, just desperate to be loved by anyone who would come near me.
I went into 2025 hopeful that I was on the right track to meeting my person. While I was home in Virginia I had matched with a sweet divorcee. His ex-wife had two children with her previous partner who lives in another country. He still called them his children and shared custody with his ex, despite not needing to legally. The way he spoke about them and her, as well as his attitude towards me reminded me that there are kind-hearted souls out there looking for exactly what I’m looking for.
The rest of the year had its ups and downs. Shortly after I came back to London I matched with an actor who I had great chemistry with. I love those dates, when it’s easy and the conversation is flowing and you feel like you already know each other. They’re often not like that at all. But after a great first date, he stood me up on our second, which left me with a bruised ego.
I had some pretty lacklustre and diabolical dates in between until I met a poly chef, who I still really like. Polyamory and ethical non-monogamy is something that is so beautiful and inspiring to me, but at the end of the day isn’t my thing. More than anything, it impresses me because I can barely find one man I want to date, let alone multiple.
But our encounters finally made me see how you can do casual, you can do friends with benefits (crucially friendship is a relationship!) when you have mutual care and respect for one another. When communication isn’t something you shy away from, but run towards.
I’ve learned more from him and his partners than anyone else I’ve dated, and he really set the standard for how uncomplicated it can be. I certainly couldn’t have written it.
From there, it was only a month into the year and I was pretty fatigued with dating after going in hard.
I took a bit of a break until April, and it was around this time my situationship spun the block again. We had this on-again, off-again thing going…for longer than I care to admit.
After we met up again he told me that he wouldn’t be able to “commit to anything,” which wasn’t anything new. A couple of weeks later he showed up to a single’s book swap that I was hosting, which left me totally floored.
The book swap in question was a pretty intentional act from him, in my view. It was a sign of someone looking for…something. A point of connection. Mutual interests. A relationship. Now, he had no idea that I would be there, let alone hosting, so we had a chat and I returned to my duties, internally raging.
The next day, I was going to be in Belfast with my best friend for my annual birthday trip that we do together. I was going to have fun and that was the final nail in the situationship coffin. I decided on a whim to change my location on Hinge and I’m so glad I did.
I ended up meeting a couple of guys and having some really nice dates while I was there. One in particular really surprised me. Once again, I had one of those dates that felt incredibly easy and natural. I knew right when I saw him that I liked him. He was so beautiful and funny and endearing, it immediately terrified me. You know when you just meet someone who is entirely themselves? Even now, I’m not sure how to describe it.
When he told me that he would also be in London again in June, I was excited, but figured it would be unlikely that I would see him again.
But I did! We ended up seeing each other few more times in London and couldn’t understand how I could like a person so much. It had been a long time since I had a crush and my anxiety spiked. I felt myself getting restless that we didn’t have any other plans after our last date and the physical distance made me nervous. My last ex had no interest in travelling to see me when we were long distance, so I figured because he had done it a few times it should be my turn to offer.
In any case, communication slowed, my anxiety about it got worse and I sent the classic “is everything okay, the vibe seems to have shifted” text. He very kindly reassured me and said we would make plans, but never did. Anyway, it’s all in the past now. I was hurt and confused, but ultimately what can you do? I just had to let go.
I took another break after that in August because I needed a minute to recalibrate after that. I was embarrassed for so many reasons, it’s a tricky balance to be excited about someone while trying not to get your hopes up. I know now that’s impossible, it’s all just part of it. I wouldn’t change anything.
I then met a Scottish music teacher who was also really lovely, but was incredibly busy with work. He worked in a school and would also teach on the weekends which left a very small window for dating. Once again, I felt my anxiety spiking after we had a few great dates but communication slowed down again. How did I find myself in the exact same situation?
I told him I respected and admired his work ethic, but ultimately I would just end up getting frustrated not being able to see each other so we should just call it.
In that time, my situationship tried to match with me on another dating app…he has since been blocked.
From October onward there was nothing to write home about. I went on some nice dates, some boring ones, and some pretty good ones! There were times I wished that I was at home in bed, and other nights I was reminded of how much fun it is to sit in wine bars and make out.
I closed out the year being stood up for a second time by a French guy who was, giving me major red flags from the word go. He tried to call me via Bumble and (which was a feature I didn’t know existed) and just came on way too strong. When he didn’t show up to our date, that my signal to delete the apps again for the rest of the year.
I went into 2025 with a dating plan, and for the most part I think I stuck to it pretty well! I feel like I could’ve poured more into my friendships and family, but overall, I’m pretty happy with how the year panned out all things considered.
I’ve done nothing but go into dating with an open mind and heart, make myself vulnerable, and have as much fun as I can while I’m doing it. Ultimately, I’ve learned not to try and force things through and the men who want to stick around, will.
At this point, all I can say to the universe is thank you, more, please!
About me: I’m Nicole, the writer of A Crumb of Romance. I’m the co-author of The Half of It: Exploring the Mixed-Race Experience, a content creator and the co-host of the award-winning Mixed Up podcast. Having been chronically online since the age of 13, you can also find me on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Pinterest.