A single woman who thought she was being completely ignored by men online has discovered her profile was only being shown to gay men.
Jessica Walker signed up for the dating app Hinge on her phone earlier this month in a bid to find love, but was miffed when all her potential suitors ignored her attempts to contact them and were seemingly only interested in settling down with "cute country boys".
In fact, it was only when Taylor McManus, 22, contacted Jessica on the dating app that she finally figured out the truth about her unlucky string of failed matches - as it turned out she was only appearing as a potential match for gay men.
Jessica, 26, was baffled by the error, and although she can see the funny side of the mix-up, she still has absolutely no idea how she managed to get her profile so wrong.
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The recruiter, from Panama City Beach, Florida, US, said: "I was newly single and I didn't know how to use Hinge, I was so confused. I wasn't getting any likes, it was making me question who I was as a woman. I'd just been liking guys' profiles because they were all really cute.
"Then when Taylor told me I'd put my settings on to gay men, it made sense. Every profile was saying 'looking for a cute country boy', and I was like 'why does it say that? I'm looking for a boy too!'
"I don't know how this happened but later that day I was able to view straight men so I don't know how it happened. It's so funny."
For the day or so that she was set to see the profiles of gay men, Jessica noticed that their profiles tend to differ from their straight counterparts - something she was a fan of.
She explained: "For the day or so that I was set to gay men, I realised I like their dating profiles.
"They're a lot more honest than straight men, and I love that. Heterosexual men will say 'I'm looking for the love of my life', when they're looking for Netflix and chill.
"Every gay profile seemed very honest and upfront about what they wanted."
Jessica - who is now in a relationship - quickly became good friends with Taylor thanks to his kindness in reaching out to let her know what was happening, and the pair now rely on each other to solve their "boy problems".
She added: "Maybe I was just supposed to meet Taylor this way, it's so odd. When he reached out to tell me, I thought it was very funny and it was just my luck. I sent it to all my girlfriends and I was just like 'why is my life this way?'
"Since this happened, we've become friends. I feel like Taylor, bless his heart, has gotten so much information from me.
"We share so much with each other, which is really nice. It's great because we live close by and there aren't a lot of young people around here unless they're here on spring break."
And as for Taylor, he's also thankful he was able to forge a friendship with Jessica - whom he said is now his "go-to friend" whenever he needs advice.
He said: "We both come to each other when we're having boy problems. Immediately, she'll be my go-to friend.
"We've learnt a lot of information about each other very quickly. It feels like we've known each other for a very long time.
"We'll meet up and dish in person because over the phone can be difficult sometimes."
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