“We went for walks in the park where we could actually talk and get to know each other,” says Jessica Haymen, 31, of the boyfriend she met on Tinder during a 2020 UK lockdown. “It was great spending time together, and it almost felt like the summer romances you see in films like Grease.”
For Haymen, who lives in Brighton, UK, her lockdown love story was a true whirlwind romance. She and her partner made things official just two weeks after their first date, and were able to spend months hiring bikes and taking hikes – activities that allowed them to talk, explore and have fun “like we were kids”. She says being in lockdown and both temporarily out of work meant that they spent a lot of time together, and that their relationship felt on fast-forward.
