You can now go on a VIRTUAL blind date organised by matchmakers for singles in lockdown – and they match you based on your social media profiles

A dating app and events company have joined forces to create a new virtual event designed to help singles find love while in coronavirus lockdown.

The Stay At Home Soirée is the brainchild of the dating app Swanned and Soirée Events, and will see two male or female friends sign up to be matched with two other singles in the hope they can find love during times of social distancing and isolation.

Once the two couples have been expertly matched by the founders of Swanned and Sydney Soirée, the four singles will have to go on a virtual blind date conducted over video conference.

The ‘dates’ are set to take place via a private Zoom link every Friday and Saturday night for the remainder of April and throughout May.

Speaking to FEMAIL, the co-founder of Soirée Events Paddy Millington Buck, said ‘staying in is the new going out’.

‘We understand that this isolation situation isn’t great for all the singles out there. We’re all locked at home, going stir crazy,’ Paddy said.

‘We wanted to give Sydney singles some hope that, despite lockdown, there are others out there in the same boat who are keen to socialise.’ 

To get involved in the new Stay At Home Soirée, all you need to do is buddy up with a single friend of the same sex. 

Then, email [email protected] to register, sharing your names, ages, nationalities, professions and social media profiles.

Their experts will then match you with two people who they deem you might get on with and you’ll be emailed some icebreaker questions to complete before your date.

Following this, singles will be given an allocated time for their video date, as well as a unique and private Zoom code. 

Most dates are around 30 minutes and include four people on the call (two men and two women), which, the founders said, can help to diffuse any potential awkardness.

‘If you found love in lockdown, then let Soirée know and we will organise the swapping of contact details,’ Paddy said. 

‘We have matched hundreds of couples in the five-plus years we’ve been operating.’

Soirée Events is the largest group dating and matchmaking company in Australia,  and has resulted in many a lasting relationship.

Sophie Walker, 30, from Sydney, met Shannon Cox at one of Soirée’s roaming dinner parties in 2017, and she later went on to marry him that same year.

Speaking about why the Soirée formula works, Ms Walker previously told FEMAIL that it ‘allows you to get out of your comfort zone while all the time remaining in it’.

‘It’s such a unique experience,’ she said. 

‘Because you’re constantly surrounded by three of your friends, it doesn’t feel like a forced date; it feels like a group dinner with your mates who can Wingman you at the same time’.

The 30-year-old added that Soirée works where other dating concepts fail, because it prioritises ‘human interaction and the invaluable connections you can make face-to-face’, rather than on your iPhone.

Swanned is a dating app aimed at uniting British and Irish singles in Australia. For more information about it, please click here .