If you’re on the lookout for the best questions to ask on a date, British singles seem ready to lay all their cards on the table.
In fact, new research reveals they’d love to inquire, right from the get-go, about everything from political leanings to the authenticity of one’s pearly whites.
“HOW MUCH DO YOU EARN? ARE YOU A TORY? AND ARE YOUR TEETH REAL? THE QUESTIONS BRITISH SINGLETONS WISH THEY COULD ASK BEFORE DATING SOMEONE NEW”
13 Questions Brits Wish They Could Ask Directly Before Dating Someone New 💔❓
| Question | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Are you still married? | 37% |
| Why did your last relationship end? | 35% |
| Do you have narcissistic traits? | 32% |
| Do you want to get married one day? | 27% |
| Do you have an addictive personality? | 18% |
| What is your body count? | 15% |
| Are you a Tory? | 12% |
| Will you pay on our first date? | 11% |
| What do you look like first thing in the morning? | 10% |
| How much do you earn? | 9% |
| Are your teeth real? | 8% |
| What is your net worth? | 6% |
| What is your bank balance right now? | 6% |
That eye-opening declaration comes alongside findings showing a whopping 94 percent of singles wish the dating game was more transparent.
A further 84 percent believe it should be perfectly acceptable to ask these pressing queries on—or even before—the first encounter.
According to the study from luxury dating platform Seeking, 92 percent of participants insist the scene is littered with half-truths, while 34 percent admit they’ve shown up to a date only to find their potential match looked nothing like their photos.
And the fibs don’t stop there. Over one-fifth (22 percent) say they’ve gone to meet someone who ended up being from a totally different generation, while 21 percent found their date was notably shorter than advertised.
A further 15 percent discovered their match had kids but omitted that detail, and 8 percent have shared a drink with someone who turned out not to be teetotal after all.
“In fact,” the research notes, “the questions we would like the answers to, before having dinner with someone, including ‘What do you look like first thing in the morning?’ (10 percent), ‘How much do you earn?’ (nine percent), ‘Are your teeth real?’ (eight percent) and ‘What is your bank balance right now?’ (six percent), also burning questions.” One in six (15 percent) want to ask about a date’s “body count,” while 12 percent would love to know if their date voted conservative.
Common areas for stretching the truth include age (51 percent), relationship status (44 percent), finances (42 percent), interests (35 percent), height (33 percent), past partners (33 percent), work (30 percent), and hobbies (22 percent). This explains why 36 percent of singles admit they don’t like mainstream dating platforms, with a further 23 percent going so far as to say they hate them.
Unsurprisingly, UK daters spend an average of eight years in the online dating scene, juggling around two apps for roughly two-and-a-half hours weekly.
Men typically spend slightly longer (two hours and 45 minutes) swiping and messaging than women (two hours and 15 minutes). Even though most users (73 percent) would rather meet face-to-face sooner, they still spend about 19 days chatting before arranging that first rendezvous.
Seeking.com’s resident dating expert, Emma Hathorn, explained: “The research shows that single Brits are struggling with the current online dating world.
We know that online dating is still one of the most popular ways to meet your future partner and we can’t see that changing any time soon as we celebrate three decades since online dating first started. British daters know what they want, they have high standards.
It’s now about finding platforms that allow those standards to not only be met but exceeded. At Seeking, honesty and transparency are at the very centre of what we stand for on our dating platform so it’s promising to see how important that is to British daters.”
Despite all the frustration, many still wonder about the best questions to ask on a date to get to the heart of a person’s character.
After all, 20 percent of online daters say they struggle to find someone on their wavelength, while 19 percent are simply bored with the process—some even liken it to holding down a second job (12 percent).
Maybe an upfront approach—and a few revealing queries—are exactly what the modern dating scene needs.
