Categories: Expat Life

Lovelorn in London? Fussball + fun on London Eye’s Wheel of Date


DID you know for every single guy in London there are four single girls? You didn’t? It’s probably because we made that statistic up.

Really though – did you know there are 53 different online dating websites in London alone to match those four girls to the man of their dreams? Ok, you got us. There’s only 17. We’re guessing.

What about the fact that online dating is 43% more common amongst the Brits aged 18-35 than it is in Australians of the same age? No, not really. Although from the popularity of meeting online over here in the UK, it very well could be.

Although we’re playing fast and loose with the word ‘statistic’ here, these are trends that seems to be born out in practical experience. Any Australian trying to date in London can tell you it sometimes can be an overwhelming experience, particularly if you don’t want to meet the love of your life over tequila shots at the Church dressed up as a jar of vegemite.

The whole online dating palaver, those cheesy profiles — filling out the qualities you look for in an ‘ideal partner’. I’m into heavy wool-knit sweaters, sipping sangiovese and reading Keats by an open fire. Not.

Basically, and I know this probably rings true for most Aussies, we just want to meet someone who is fun to talk too with minimal fuss, and maybe see a bit of our adopted city while we’re at it.

Well, it seems the good people of DoingSomething and TimeOut have heard your call, and on 28 February will be transforming the London Eye into a world first dating experience. A chance to take in a London landmark or two and bond with someone new over a shared appreciation of the city’s skyline.

500 singles will be thrown into one of 32 capsules, spinning the wheel on who they might share it with and what unique dating experience their capsule will contain. It may be Karaoke at 400ft in the air, a game of Ping Pong, a fussball tournament, cabaret or comedy.

No-one take your fancy? Oh well, an afterparty at The Old Vic Tunnels for all 500 might change your mind.

Unsurprisingly (given our first ‘statistic’), all tickets for women are now sold out, but there are still tickets available for guys.

With a membership to the dating site DoingSomething included, a trip on the London Eye AND the chance to play some table football whilst looking down on Westminster, this is an opportunity not to be missed.

Come on Aussie guys! Wondering how to meet people in London? Here’s your chance.

Tickets available from £29 at www.doingsomething.co.uk/wheel-of-date/.

Alex Ivett

Leaving the world of law behind, Alex found a way to take advantage of London's amazing capacity for reinvention and is a former editor of Australian Times.