My Stunning Encounter with an EastEnders Star on a Daring Kinky Relationship App

THE evening I used to be about to go on my first Feeld date I acquired spooked.

I used to be on the app, which is aimed toward open-minded singletons and {couples} on the lookout for an adventurous intercourse life, chatting to “T”.

Kinky courting app Feeld is aimed toward open-minded singletons and {couples} on the lookout for an adventurous intercourse lifeCredit score: Shutterstock

The sex-positive app is quick changing into the most popular approach to meet individuals on-lineCredit score: feeld.co

We’d been messaging for a couple of hours when he steered assembly for a drink.

I used to be stunned however flattered. He hadn’t even informed me his identify but.

Whereas I used to be considering it over, “T” messaged once more, asking what my ideas had been.

I nonetheless wasn’t positive, so continued holding off replying.

One other 20 minutes handed, and I’d resolved I used to be too drained to satisfy anybody new that evening.

However as I opened the app to inform “T” this, I found he’d already unmatched me.

I’d acquired my first lesson in Feeld etiquette — customers don’t like to attend.

A number of days later I had one other close to miss with a person named “S”, who appeared regular till he requested about my favorite musicians after which, after I let a night go with out replying, adopted it up with a graphic query about my sexual preferences.

I would nonetheless be ready for my first Feeld date however that might quickly put me in a minority.

The sex-positive app is quick changing into the most popular approach to meet individuals on-line.

Launched in 2014, Feeld’s downloads elevated by 320 per cent between 2020 and 2023, with 1.6 occasions as many energetic customers within the UK in comparison with this time final yr.

Even celebrities are getting concerned.

On Tuesday, it was reported on this newspaper that EastEnders star Charlie Brooks, 42, is on the app.

The actress, who performed Janine Butcher on the cleaning soap, has been single since splitting with Ben Hollington, her boyfriend of six years, in 2018.

It’s been reported that ex-EastEnders star Charlie Brooks has signed up for the app

It’s fascinating that Charlie put her particulars on the market, as a result of in contrast to mainstream apps resembling Hinge, Bumble and Tinder, on Feeld most customers are nameless, utilizing both pseudonyms, initials or hiding their faces of their profiles.

It is usually way more various, with 20 sexualities and 19 genders to select from.

One other distinction is the knowledge on individuals’s profiles.

The app has a devoted “needs” part the place customers can record their varied sexual predilections.

So as a substitute of showing, say, their top or  star signal, a Feeld person would possibly reveal their penchant for threesomes or bondage.

If it sounds terrifying — that’s as a result of it’s.

Therefore why I used to be initially reluctant to affix.

However in latest months Feeld’s status has been shifting.

Gone are the times when the app was reserved for the hyper-kinky amongst us.

Positive, all that stuff continues to be there. However a big majority of Feeld customers are literally utilizing it to search for relationships.

In response to Feeld’s personal knowledge, nearly 40 per cent of its customers state of their bios that they’re on the lookout for monogamous long-term commitments.

Multiple good friend of a good friend met their present accomplice on there. And nearly all of my single buddies are on it.

Regardless that I’ve but to go on an precise date from it, Feeld is already providing me a lot greater than different courting apps ever have.

On Hinge, for instance, my matches usually end in a Mexican stand-off, with each of us ready to see who will make the primary transfer, which inevitably leads to nobody making any strikes in any respect.

Or I’ll begin chatting to somebody, focus on assembly, then by no means hear from them once more.

On Feeld the tempo is quicker. Folks on there appear to truly need to discuss to you and meet.

A lot so, that if you happen to’re not fast sufficient, they received’t hassle maintaining you of their match record — like “T”.

It would sound brutal however it’s nothing in comparison with being ghosted or slowly strung alongside by somebody (an act that’s generally known as “breadcrumbing”), each of which have occurred to me with males on different apps.

It’s behaviour like this that has led to an endemic of courting burnout, whereby single individuals have uninterested in all the frustration, deception and game-playing on mainstream apps. On this panorama, Feeld affords one thing new.

“I randomly messaged a man from Feeld one Sunday and we ended up going to a pub for a couple of drinks,” recollects Jemma, 28.

“We actually hit off and ultimately went again to his. We laughed loads and regardless that he’s left the nation for a couple of months for work, we’ve remained on good phrases.”

One other person, Al, 32, has met a number of single girls on the app.

“One evening, considered one of them invited me to affix a threesome with one other man, which was unimaginable and really passionate,” he recollects.

“I’ve had a couple of flaky experiences with different individuals however nothing too unhealthy.”

Typically, the factor that appears to be attracting individuals most to Feeld, although, is the honesty of its customers.

“I’ve discovered individuals on apps like Hinge aren’t sincere about what they need,” says Annie*, 33. “There’s extra mendacity and manipulation.

“What I actually like about Feeld is the upfront strategy, not solely by way of what they’re on the lookout for but in addition about individuals’s conditions.

“In the event that they’re in an open relationship, for instance, I discover it results in extra genuine connections, which might be why I charge it so extremely.”

Frankly, after years of being misled by males on different apps, it’s extremely refreshing to come across a completely completely different strategy, even when it’s one I’m nonetheless fairly intimidated by.

For now, although, I’ll be taking part in the Feeld.

Not simply because the alternatives and potentialities appear fairly actually infinite, however as a result of the factor that’s been lacking most from my courting life is transparency.

And it’s about time I discovered it.

*Names have been modified.

Olivia says Feeld is already providing her a lot greater than different courting apps ever have