liar

SHOCKINGLY seven in ten singletons say they’ve given up on dating. Why? Because half of them say they’re put off by constantly meeting liars.

But are the signs there from the very first date? The Sun takes a look at the red flags that could mean your new love interest is out to break your heart.

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As many as 74 per cent singletons have either given up or have chosen to take ‘a lengthy break’ from finding love, according to a poll by dating site Seeking.

And an incredible 51 per cent said they have been fibbed to about their date’s age, while a third have turned up to find the person was shorter or taller than they were told.

Relationship therapist Rhian Kivits told The Sun: “Sadly, lots of people do lie, especially on dating profiles or when they are messaging before a date. Often they do this through insecurity.

“They want to get a date, but they have no confidence, so they post fake photos or tell lies about their age or height.

“This doesn’t necessarily mean they are abusive or dangerous, but if you spot this, it’s fair to ask, ‘Is this right for me?’

“Most of us probably don’t want to date someone who is presenting themselves as someone they are not.”

But that’s not the only white lie your date could dupe you with – there are seven red flags, according to Rhian, which might indicate a potential partner is telling porkies.

1. ‘Too good to be true’ dating profiles

If someone’s profile looks highly managed with model-like photos, and it all feels just a bit too good to be true, then it probably is.

People have been known to use AI photos or internet pictures that aren’t even them. Trust your intuition and if something in your gut gives you the impression it isn’t right, then it might be fake.

Look for photos of them doing a genuine hobby, such as playing golf.

But they should be on a course really playing, not just posing up nearby.

I like it when other people are in their photos, at a family barbecue, for example. This shows someone is a genuine person.

2. Question dodging

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Sometimes you might get chatting to someone and find they are dodging your questions.

You ask where they work, and they just say ‘all over the place’ or ‘I travel a lot’. That’s a red flag.

You might ask where and they say ‘the south west’, but that’s a big place.

Whilst I’d never expect someone to be specific, it’s reasonable to have some idea of what someone does and which town they live in before you meet up.

The same goes for relationship status. If they are being cagey or say ‘it’s complicated’, that’s not a promising sign.

3. Refuses a video call

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You can rule out a lot of fibs by meeting on a video call before a real date.

If they weren’t the age they told you, or the height, you’d know instantly.

If they say no to the call, what is it they don’t want you to see? Maybe they are sitting on the couch with their partner.

Liars can be very clever, so whilst you can never 100 per cent protect yourself, a video call beforehand is a great way of weeding out fibbers.

4. You share the same loves and hobbies

What some liars will do is ask an awful lot of questions about you.

Then they’ll say, ‘Oh, I love that too. ‘ It might be what you like to eat, where you like to hang out, whether you like swimming or going to the cinema.

What they are doing is painting themselves as your ideal partner and setting up a web of lies so you almost fall in love before you meet them.

This is a very negative trait, often used by narcissists, and they are very likely disingenuous.

If whatever you love, they love, it’s not always a good sign.

5. Overly rehearsed anecdotes

If they are telling stories or anecdotes that feel a little too polished rather than spontaneously shared, maybe they are not telling the whole truth.

When every detail is just so, you should be wondering what they have left out.

Look out for inconsistencies in their tales.

Perhaps in one version of the story, they were with a friend, then their brother.

Maybe it was last week the first time they told you, then last year.

And if they always paint themselves as the hero of the story, the one always in the right, perhaps they are not being 100 per cent honest.

6. Little or no digital footprint

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Most of us have a very big digital footprint these days. If there is nothing about them online, ask about it.

If they deleted a profile, why? If they have profiles under different names, why?

We can all look someone up before going on a date, and it’s healthy to do so. You might see they used to have a different job and switched careers, or their hair colour is different.

Just say ‘I did a sneaky Google of you’. If they are a genuine person, they won’t mind.

They’ll laugh and say, ‘Yes, I used to have red hair’. If they are cagey, something is up.

7. Suspicious smartphone activity

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Perhaps they are unusually protective of their phone when you meet up.

They might turn it face down or step away to reply.

They might not want you to see notifications pop up if it’s from a partner or someone else they are dating.

If you are on a date, they shouldn’t be on their phone too much anyway.

If they are, they might be texting their partner to say they are going to be late home from work.

Of course, this is not always the case but if they are on their phone a lot – ask why – and see how they react.

Why do people catfish others on dating apps?

Speaking to Techopedia, professional dating coach Jacob Lucas reveals how to see if someone is a catfish on dating apps.

A lot of people are insecure about themselves. They may not be very confident about dating or making friends, or about the way they look, so they create this fake persona. When they get attention and receive compliments, they then feel validated.

Very often, catfishes are in that person’s life already, so they already know them. Sometimes, it can be started off as a joke and then it spirals out of control. People can become addicted to it and it becomes a habit.

The third reason is that as weird as it sounds, they think they’re doing the right thing. If it’s a friend who has a lot of bad luck in their love life, they want to give them confidence. But they often get stuck in the habit and can’t stop doing it.

And finally, its could be that the person is trying to extort money from the other person. They may ask for a small amount of money to pay for their electricity bill for example to start off with, but if they do, it can spiral into a large amount of money. They use romance to get people to send them money.

LOVE Island star Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu has fallen out with her best pal – with the star being branded a “narcissist”.

Ekin-Su, who shot to fame on Love Island in 2022 and again on the All Stars series earlier this year, had previously been championed by close friend Mabel Asojo during her time on the reality show.

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But now the pair have unfollowed each other on social media and sources say that they are no longer friends after a falling out.

Mabel recently shared a post to address her fallout with Ekin-Su.

It read: “To everyone flooding my inbox with updates and questions, save it.

“We are not friends – I don’t need to write an unsold self help book on loyalty for someone who can’t even grasp how to be a decent human.

“I don’t deal with liars, cheaters, bullies, or narcissists. So please stop involving me.

“Consider this your final update. I hope she discovers peace.

“It just won’t be through me.”

She then followed this up with a screengrab of one of Ekin-Su’s pals defending the star, while taking a swipe at Mabel.

They claimed: “Imagine smiling to someone’s face, claiming you were best friends, then selling stories behind their back – and trying to turn me against her too.

“That’s next level snake behaviour. She’s real, loyal and solid and she doesn’t deserve the lies.

“Some people will do anything for attention.

“Glad we know who the rat was all along in the friendship circle.”

Taking a swipe at former friend Ekin, Mabel captioned it: “Wish you both the best.”

While a source said: “Ekin-Su’s friendship circle is at war. They’ve fallen out in a major clash and there is a big division between the group.

“The fallout worsened after Ekin-Su’s stint on All Stars, one of her long term friends has cut ties with her.

“One of her pals is not happy with her behaviour and has called her out for it.

“They’ve tried to be a good friend to her but think fame has gone to her head and she’s changed for the worse.

“Right now they’ve washed their hands of her and think she’s been a narcissist and disloyal in a bid to further her career.”

But another insider said Ekin-Su is not fully to blame.

They shared: “Ekin-Su has been under a lot of stress, those closest to her have unfairly turned their back on her.

“Ekin has always been a good friend and they should have had her back.”

The Sun have reached out to Ekin-Su’s rep for comment.

Back in 2022, Mabel – who met Turkish actress Ekin-Su at a hot tub party – helped her friend to become the first of this year’s Islanders to hit a million followers.

Mabel had supported her former friend during her stint on the show and looked after her social media account.

But it wasn’t all plain sailing and she’s admitted that the trolling has been very bad at times.

Mabel told The Sun at the time: “It was so hard.

“I spent a lot of time in my bedroom upset thinking she’s so sweet and down to earth and such a girls’ girl.”

They often appeared on each other’s Instagram but they have since deleted any trace of each other.

Meanwhile, Ekin seems happier than ever after finding love with Curtis Pritchard on the Love Island spin-off series.

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BBC host Laura Kuenssberg has revealed the interview that “sticks” with her the most is when Michelle Mone confessed to being a liar.

Scots bra tycoon Mone spent two years fiercely denying through an army of lawyers any involvement with the firm PPE Medro, which had earned over £200million worth of Government contracts to supply face masks and surgical gowns during the Covid pandemic.

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But in 2023 it was revealed that the Tory life peer and her three adult children had received £29million from the company via her second husband Doug Barrowman.

That led to a “Prince Andrew-style” TV showdown with the politics presenter on her weekly show Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

Appearing alongside Barrowman, 60, Baroness Mone, 53, made the jaw-dropping confession: “I can’t see what we’ve done wrong. Lying to the press is not a crime.”

Now in a two-part BBC documentary The Rise and Fall of Michelle Mone to be shown next week, Laura, 48, said: “In the end they were bizarrely quite honest about not having told the truth. Which is quite a strange experience.

“Then as she so memorably said, ‘But Laura, it’s not a crime to lie’ That’s a phrase that will always stick with me.”

The controversy started when Lady Mone had used her government links to access a VIP Lane for fast track PPE procurement.

But the former owner of bra company Ultimo then aggressively denied for three years that she and Barrowman had any connections to the company PPE Medro.

When it was revealed that Mone and her family had personally benefitted from the contracts she announced she was stepping down from the House of Lords.

Questions were then asked in parliament by the then leader of the opposition Sir Keir Starmer about how nearly £30million had ended up in the bank account of the Scottish businesswoman.

Recalling before the build-up to the car-crash interview, Laura said: “They obviously knew they had been lying at the beginning of it. So they felt they were in this trap.

“On the day (of the interview) the whole experience was eerily calm. There’s no question Michelle Mone and Doug Barrowman became the pantomime villains in the story of the huge shambles of what went wrong with PPE.

“For Michelle, being able to grab public attention was always something she had in spades during her business career but things went wrong for her and you can’t turn that attention off.”

Mone and Barrowman are currently being investigated by the National Crime Agency.

The couple continue to deny any wrongdoing.

*The Rise and Fall of Michelle Mone begins on BBC Scotland on Monday May 26 at 10pm and BBC Two on May 28 at 9pm. Both episodes are available on BBC iPlayer from Monday.

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