People Are Already Searching for a 'Lockdown Cuff' In Case of a Second Wave

For many this year, lockdown with a partner had its pros and cons. Yeah, you may have had to share a one bedroom flat in Zone 6 with your boyfriend Simon and his booming “Zoom voice” and constant cloud of apple vape smoke. But you also had someone to go down on you in between episodes of Selling Sunset and say things like "wow" when you showed them the progress of your knitted scarf.

For some, though, lockdown was essentially four sexless months of zero skin-to-skin contact other than accidentally touching an elderly lady's hand in ASDA in April. Some people preferred it that way. (Solitude can be good for you!) But for others, the very real possibility of a second and worse coronavirus wave – along with a second UK lockdown – has meant that they've begun preparing for this time to be different. All of which is to say: people are looking for a lockdown cuff.

According to research from the dating app Badoo, half of those who are worried about a second lockdown are now more eager to get into a relationship than they were before the pandemic, simply because they don't want to spend it alone.

Fiona, 26 is one of those people. “Unlike a lot of people, I take virus measures quite seriously,” she tells me. “Meaning that I haven't even hugged anyone, let alone had sex since earlier this year. Which was fine at first, but I've been really craving human touch and intimacy.”

“I'm not that into one time things, especially not during a pandemic,” she continues. “Without sounding scary, I do go on dating apps with the intention of an actual relationship. I think about the months ahead and how that'll pan out. Would I want to spend a lot of time with this person? Are we compatible in more ways than just fancying each other? Are they someone I'd want to spend lockdown with, if it comes to that? These are the sort of questions I've been thinking about.”

Rachel, 27, says something similar. “Due to a combination of singledom, COVID fears and the fact that my family broke our bubble almost instantly by all hanging out together, I've not actually touched another person since the middle of March, which feels super weird,” she explains. “I am definitely not throwing myself at random people, but I'm taking a much more fervent interest in The Apps at the minute than I usually would.”

I ask Rachel what sort of requirements a lockdown cuff would need to meet. “I have been speaking with someone who has also been locked down alone… When I found out this other person lived alone, I was definitely more interested! As much as quarantining alone has been a bit 'yikes', I am not looking to join a whole houseshare.”

Lockdown cuff's aren't necessarily for the long haul – that's why they're a cuff. This isn't Love is Blind. But they need to have all the hallmarks of a relationship – snogging, saying “what shall we have for dinner?”, listening to you complain about work – otherwise what's the point? “What would be ideal is someone who can cook, has a decent place with a BIG bath and lives alone. Also can drive,” says Ama, 24. “I'm not looking for someone to marry, I'm looking for someone who I could hole up with without going insane. I know you could do that with a close pal, but I can't be celibate again.”

“I live with two couples, so you can imagine what that was like during lockdown!” Fran, 28, tells me. “They'd be really couply and, other than feeling irrationally irritated, I also felt a bit jealous. I don't necessarily want a relationship, but I do want the 'relationship experience' or a 'situationship'. So now when I'm on Hinge I do have that in mind a bit, like before I would have only searched for people I could imagine having sex with, but now it's a different situation, with a different set of goals. They need to be someone I connect with on a deeper level and who I might want around for a while.”

Who knows how the next few months will pan out? In between pubs opening and support bubbles colliding, the world outside is starting to look a little more back to “normal”. But if experts are to be believed, a second coronavirus wave could be a real possibility – and without a vaccine, so could a second lockdown. Which means that single peeps need to make a choice. Either look forward to all that alone time you're going to have. Or find someone to couple up with *checks watch* now.

@daisythejones