Dragon's Den star and Diary of a CEO’s Steven Bartlett has taken the role of interviewee in Bumble’s new podcast series, My Love Is… as he sits down with The Receipts Podcast host, Tolly T to speak candidly on his upbringing and how it impacted his emotional and romantic connections as an adult.
Steven deems sexual languages as an important factor when it comes to compatibility. When recounting the earlier days with his current girlfriend, he explains “One day, several months into our relationship, she turned around to me and said, ‘I don’t like having sex’. And, as a man, when a woman says that sentence that she doesn’t like having sex, it can feel quite perplexing, it can feel emasculating, or you think, ‘Is it me?’”
The pair split soon after, however a year later, Steven flew out to Bali where she had relocated to, to try and resolve things. After speaking openly with each other in an attempt to rekindle the relationship, Steven explains:
“It turns out, it wasn’t that she didn’t like having sex, it’s that sex is a language - and she was speaking Spanish, I was speaking Yoruba; just this piece of information makes you think about sex differently. Let me learn your language and then we can communicate…”
Research from Bumble shows that the way that we are talking, thinking about, and having sex is changing. More of us are approaching sex, intimacy, and dating in an open and exploratory way (42%) and sex is no longer taboo, with more than half of us agreeing that it’s important to discuss sexual wants and needs early on (53%).
When speaking on finances in relationships, Steven says he maintains a traditional view on the male’s role: “I had £100 to my name, I spent the whole £100 on the date and walked back [home]. I wouldn’t take you on a date if I couldn’t pay”.
Recent research from Bumble exploring ‘The Romance Gap’ found that in the UK, 1 in 2 (53%) say men are expected to earn more money and be responsible for finances, with only 3% agreeing this is expected of women. 1 in 10 (10%) women have felt concerned of being judged for earning more than their partner.**
When speaking about family, Steven goes on to explain that his mother is Nigerian and his dad is English, and when asked how he identifies he said; “I identify as Black. It’s actually an interesting question as no one has actually asked me that in my life. When you grow up in an all-white area, like Devon in 1992, you’re Black. Because I was the only Black kid at school, other than my siblings”.
The full podcast episode will be available to watch on and listen on YouTube, Acast, Spotify and Apple.
Bumble, the popular women-first dating app, has recently announced series 2 of their ‘My Love Is…’ podcast.
The new series will explore dating and expectations from a Black British perspective and guests will include Indiyah and Dami, Toni Tone, Zeze Millz, Tayce, Steven Bartlett and others. They’ll be sharing their dating experiences to open the conversation on perfectionism, modern masculinity, and how to navigate family and societal pressures.
Issues to be raised within My Love Is… include:
- Perfectionism, #couplegoals, and the fear of failure
- The family dynamics and social expectations
- Resetting standards
- Liberation from gendered timelines
Naomi Walkland, Vice President Marketing at Bumble said: “At Bumble, we’re all about dating on your own terms but we recognise that this is not always easy to do. This can be especially true in the Black community, and as a Black British woman of Nigerian heritage, I have experienced first-hand the expectations and societal pressures that can hold us back from making the first move. To challenge this, we need to understand and open up conversations about love and how it intersects with our experiences and our identities. We’re proud to continue to champion the conversation around Black Love and hope that this latest series will empower our community to rethink the narratives we have been told around dating, romance, and relationships.
The second series follows the success of the initial launch in 2020 which featured the likes of Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Ovie Soko, and Ms Banks. Episodes can be accessed here. The first series of Bumble’s ‘My Love is…’ hit the top of the Apple charts and was in Spotify’s Top 20.
Bumble’s My Love is Black Love campaign was a response to the fact that more than half (53%) of Black people across the UK don’t see themselves represented in images of love in mainstream online spaces. This is even higher amongst Black women (67%).
The women-first dating app has spoken on topics such as representation, body shaming, fetishisation, and dating in safe spaces with research we would be happy to provide.
