There are a huge amount of dating apps on the market now. From the giant that is Tinder, to Bumble, OkCupid, match.com and Coffee Meets Bagel (yes, that is a thing), you could argue that the market is already over saturated. Yet a new app is now on the scene, and it’s such a simple idea you wonder why no one has ever thought of it before.
ShowReal basically functions in the same way as Tinder, but instead of uploading photos of yourself, you upload short videos of yourself answering set questions. Gone are the days of turning up to a date to meet a guy who looks absolutely nothing like he does in his photos. In ShowReal you have nothing to hide behind.
And who better to become the app’s poster girl than Queen of Reality TV, Geordie’s Shore Charlotte Crosby? She has made her entire career through being herself in front of the camera, and fits in perfectly with the app’s ethos.
On meeting Charlotte at her hotel in Leeds city centre, she came across just as she does on the show. Seating herself next to me she turned to ask if her hair extensions were on show, as bubbly and direct as she is on screen.
“On your Tinder profile you’re going to put the best possible photo of yourself on there, Facetuned, filtered and so on. You might not necessarily look that good in real life. With ShowReal it’s just a video, it’s a really down to earth version of yourself.
“You get to see their personality and their voice – you know when you meet someone and they’ve got a really high pitched voice like their balls haven’t dropped, which might be bit awkward.
“There’s just no hiding behind anything, it’s a more real version of the dating apps that are out there at the minute.”
Charlotte has been keen to capitalise on dating projects since she’s left Geordie Shore, potentially fuelled by the extreme media speculation surrounding her relationship with co-star Gary Beadle. She recently appeared on E4’s Celebs Go Dating alongside the likes of Joey Essex, YouTube star Jack Jones and Outnumbered’s Tyger-Drew Honey. She says she found the show hard, and there were many awkward moments, but seems to brush off what was probably one of the most controversial moments of the series.
One of her dates essentially tried to ‘slut shame’ her for the amount of people she had slept with, causing quite a social media backlash.
“Most men are always going to think that women can’t sleep with as many people as men do. It’s just a men thing. Which is really crap but I don’t believe in it.”
It’s a shame to see her so flippant about such an issue, especially as it’s an issue so apparent on reality shows such as Geordie Shore, and so prevalent on the dating scene at large. Unlike other celebrities, however, who resent the media intrusion into their love lives, Charlotte was quick to admit she’s brought it on herself
“I’ve put myself in this position and you’ve got to be able to handle it. This is what I wanted at the end of the day, I’ve just got to go along with it. It is a little bit frustrating but it’s only right that they’re interested because I’ve let them know so much of my personal life anyway, so you’ve got to grin and bear it.
Charlotte is currently touring the country promoting the new dating app; after our interview she was heading off to Pryzm for an event.
Before she left I asked for her top dating tips “Do not get drunk on the first date. Don’t do it, because then on the second date you’ll realise you didn’t even like them because you were just drunk.”
ShowReal is available to download from the App store now.
Jessica Murray
Images: Becky Holmes