A few weeks ago, Guardian Soulmates members were asked to fill in a Guardian/Netflix Love compatibility questionnaire, which matched their personalities according to their streaming habits. Oliver and Jason were paired because both of them were pretty easy-going types with the same viewing tastes.
But a shared love of political thrillers turned out to mask quite opposing political beliefs. Could a private banker and a Green-supporting NHS worker find enough in common for romance?
Private banker Oliver Moule, 31, and Jason Port, 32, an HR adviser for the NHS
They were brought up in the same area of Brighton, and they now live practically down the road from each other in south London. They even watch the same TV shows. Talk about sliding doors. If this were a Hollywood film, Oliver and Jason, who met after filling in the Guardian/Netflix Love compatibility questionnaire, would wander off into the sunset together.
Alas, in real life, a couple of coincidences and a mutual love of House of Cards do not a match made in heaven create.
Oliver on Jason
“I wasn’t really attracted to him,” admits Oliver, about his date, Jason. “I was looking for someone to have a good conversation and a laugh with, but Jason was quite serious. I don’t think he smiled once.”
Awkward moments? Over dinner at Piquet in Soho, they had a few. “I admitted I didn’t really read the Guardian on a regular basis and there was a very awkward silence,” he laughs. “And when I started tucking into the breadsticks and aioli he just looked at me like I was this great big gluttonous mess.
“Fundamentally there were different personality traits there. I’m quite an extrovert, while he’s more of a cerebral person. You run out of things to ask. Maybe I have a habit of talking at people, but I was trying to extract some conversation.”
Needless to say, they finished their drinks after dinner and went their separate ways. But Oliver’s not afraid to throw himself back into dating. In fact, he has enough stories he “could probably write a book”.
“I met a guy once, speed dating, who said he bred Siamese cats,” he says. “A friend of mine used to have one, so to make conversation, I said: ‘Aren’t they quite loud?’ And he replied: ‘Yeah, they’re bloody annoying. I squirt water at them to shut them up.’ Three minutes with a weird, cruel, Siamese-cat breeder felt like an eternity.”
Oliver on Jason: 4/10
Jason on Oliver
If politics is a topic of conversation best avoided at a dinner party, then it should be be completely banned on a first date. But when Jason met the man he’d been set up with via the Guardian/Netflix Love compatibility questionnaire, it came up straight away. Starters had barely been ordered. And it was downhill from there …
“In a superficial way we had pretty similar tastes, like what we watch on TV,” recalls Jason, of his date with Oliver. “But, less helpfully, he’s a Conservative-voting banker and I’m an NHS worker who votes Green.
“Oliver tried to stay away from politics so it was probably more my fault. I know you’re supposed to avoid it on a first date, but I think it’s such an important thing. You don’t need to have the same views, necessarily, but you do need a similar outlook.
“This experience has taught me that’s more important than I thought it was. We were just so fundamentally different in that respect.”
Though quick to point out that Oliver is an “affable character” and that “it was pretty civilised – we weren’t arguing or anything”, Jason won’t be going on any more completely blind dates: “I think it’s healthy to have a chat before you meet someone.”
So it’s back to the drawing board and a return to his comfort zone. “I’ve met some nice people via online dating; I’ve made some friends, so I try to keep an open mind about the outcome,” he says.
Just don’t mention speed dating. “I’ve tried speed dating. It didn’t go terribly well. I’d had an awful hair cut the day before, and I got a bit too drunk.”
Jason on Oliver: 6/10
Overall verdict: Political dramas are best left to the TV, rather than played out for real on a date.
Want to find out what kind of a streaming partner you are? Take the Love Calculator Quiz
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