Six months ago, I met a gentleman through online dating. I met him three times; the first was at dinner. We got along so well, and the conversation flowed. But there was a red flag—during our date, he mentioned a few other women that he used to date.
He also asked me if I wanted to go home with him, and I said no. After that, I didn't text, but he was chasing me and asking if I'd like to go on a second date. Unfortunately, I accepted and decided to go for lunch with him.
On that second date, I noticed again that something wasn't right. He began mentioning the girls that he'd previously dated again—and showing me photos of them.
He told me that on his birthday, the week before, he went out with his guy friend and spent $1,000, and he began showing me pictures of the bill and the place.
I wondered how two people could spend so much money in one night unless they were drinking bottles and bottles of expensive wine?
I asked him if he went with anyone else and he laughed at me and said: "Wow you're so smart."
He then began speaking about planning for the future and having holiday lists. Although he told me that he was looking for a serious relationship, I took it lightly because I felt I had to meet him at least six to eight times to really know if he was serious.
After the second date, I still wondered: What type of man would constantly show pictures of all the girls he'd previously dated? At one point, he even compared my facial features to his ex, which was weird, but I didn't think too much of it.
After the second date, he began calling and texting me about planning a holiday together. I said that I wasn't sure, but that I'd go to dinner with him again. That's when I found out something shocking.
After that date, I opened my YouTube channel and saw a pop-up recommendation of a short video from a girl. I clicked on it and saw that this girl was showing the exact same bill and restaurant that he'd shown me on our second lunch date.
I also heard his voice in the video. I remember him showing me the bill and mentioning the restaurant that he went to with his "friend" when in fact it was with her.
I clicked another short video and found out that he went on a date with me and her on the same day. I saw that she posted a video on a specific day at nighttime, and his sunglasses were in it. I was completely shocked.
Nowadays, you cannot just get away with lying because technology and AI will expose you. I'm blessed to have seen that video on that recommended page—YouTube saved me.
When I told my friends, they were in so much shock. I then noticed that this girl was in fact one of the girls that he'd previously shown me and said that he'd dated before.
He kept texting me every day, but I ignored his calls. In the end, I took a screenshot of everything I'd seen and sent it to him. And he suddenly went quiet for a day and came back apologizing.
He said: "She's just a friend, I'm seriously dating you."
It was a joke to me. I said: "Please stop calling me and text me. I don't want to be involved anymore—I don't want to talk to you."
I was saved by a YouTube recommendation. I've heard a lot of stories about men and women getting exposed for cheating on Facebook or TikTok, but this really happened to me on YouTube.
Be careful when you date online. You never know anyone who you will meet. I would say that this is the worst dating experience I've had.
All views expressed in this article are the author's own.
Titi Summer is a content creator on YouTube.
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