I’m Ms GB but men NEVER chat me up – I’ve tried apps but blokes ghost me by fourth date or bring pals along to show off
FORMER Ms Great Britain April Banbury has given up on finding love after dating 100 men.
The 32-year-old beauty queen says she never gets chatted up and any men she has liked have disappeared by date number four.
To make matters worse, April is a wedding dress designer - surrounded by brides who constantly ask why she’s not married.
April said: “In my line of work, I am surrounded by brides-to-be and they ask if I’m married and when I say ‘no’, they always go, ‘Why not?’ Like it’s a certainty!
“I’ve been on more than 100 dates now and I’m done.”
Despite her gorgeous looks, April says she rarely gets approached when she’s out and so turned to online dating to meet potential suitors.
She said: “I never get chatted up in a bar.
“Men do not approach me ordinarily, which is why I turned to online dating.”
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Horror dates and red flags
Along the way, she has encountered plenty of “horror” dates and red flags.
She said: “Last year I was desperately looking for love. I was seeing this guy then there came the red flags, the cancelled date, the excuses, so I cut him off. I am so stubborn; I do not give second chances. You either want me, or you don’t deserve me.”
In her litany of bad experiences, there was one man who looked nothing like his profile and couldn’t stop sneezing throughout their date.
She said: “Snot ran down his nose and he kept wiping it on the back of his hand.
“There was a trail of snot on his hand and he was doing it continuously.
“I made an excuse - the first thing that came into my head - and said, ‘I’ve got a meeting tomorrow and I need to be up at 6am'.”
Then, there was the bloke who was constantly on business calls during their date, leaving April feeling like she was “having dinner with myself”.
When she said she didn’t want to see him again, he blocked her number.
She continued: “One guy invited me for dinner. He picked the place then tried to make me pay for it. I had to do a swift exit.”
Tried his luck on first date
And one cheeky fella tried his luck on the way home from their first date with a classic excuse.
April said: “I thought he was dropping me off in the taxi.
“Then he jumped out at my address and said he needed a wee.
“I knew what his intentions were and I would not let him in for a wee. He just assumed he was coming back with me to my place! Red flag!”
As well as unwanted gropes, there was a guy who was rude to a waiter and one who April found chatting up a girl at the bar when she returned from the Ladies.
April said: “There was another who took me to the pub and all his friends showed up, 15 of them.
“I had a drink and left.
“Sometimes men Google me before the date and then discuss what they found online. He was showing off to his mates saying ‘Yeah I’m on a date with Ms GB’.
“I didn’t see him again.”
Won't have sex on first date
April refuses to jump into bed with her dates and says she suffers the “fourth date curse” - if she hasn’t slept with the guy by the fourth date, they get fed up of waiting and move on to someone else.
She said: “I like to get to know someone before we get into that. I might be old-fashioned in that respect, but that’s not me.”
There was one man she bent her rule for but it “fizzled out” after sleeping with him.
She said: “It made me feel used. I believe in being honest.
“If they say at the beginning that they’re not looking for anything, just fun, then at least I can make the choice about whether to spend time with them.
“Instead they lead me on, then move onto others and that is cruel. Men lie to get me into bed, they say whatever you want to hear.
“I’ve learned my lesson and now I wait as long as possible.”
When she has liked someone and floated the idea of something serious, April says the guys get scared off and disappear.
She said: “Around the fourth date, it’s okay to have the conversation, ‘Are you seeing anyone else as I want to know where I stand.
“I ask what they’re looking for and guys get scared and don’t want commitment. It’s easier for them to run away and ghost me.
“With online dating, if I’m not interested, they can move onto the next one and find someone who is.”
Nearly died from anorexia
April was crowned Ms Great Britain - a contest for women aged 28 and over - in 2020.
Raised by Olympic cycling medallist Ian Banbury and her grandmother, Dorothy, April battled anorexia for years and nearly died from the eating disorder as a teenager.
She is now an ambassador for the charity SEED, or Eating Disorder Support Services.
When it comes to finding romance, she won’t put up with being messed around.
She said: “I don’t know why they ghost me.
“We’re making plans together and then they just disappear.
“They don’t deserve me.”
Secret code to escape dates
April also revealed she and her male flat mate Jose have a code they use when either of them goes out on a date - and it’s to do with their fake cat.
She said: “If I’m out on a date, my flatmate will call and say, ‘I’m going food shopping, what bread would you like?’ If I say ‘Gluten-free bread,’ then he knows everything’s going well.
‘But if I say ‘White bread,’ then he knows I need an escape and he’ll call back in a bit and tell me the cat is sick.
“I’ll tell the guy I’ve got to go as the cat’s ill. We don’t have a cat. I wouldn’t use that as the code if we had as it might tempt fate.”
Another problem she’s found in her quest to find love is the number of men openly dating multiple women at the same time.
April said: “I’ve met some that I’ve really liked only to find they’re dating other people and I’m not a priority for them.
“Others are quite blase and say right from the start they have a few women on the go.
“I date one person or none.”
'Confident and happy as I am'
April might be hitting the pause button on her search for love, but she’s not worried.
Her career is flying and that’s her priority right now.
She has designed the national costume for the Miss Universe competition for the second year running with requests to design and create dresses for the pageant community.
She added: “I also designed for Miss Wales in the Miss World contest last December. Those are the two biggest pageants in the world with people enquiring and placing orders which is so lovely. I am super busy.
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“In my grandma’s day, you were married by 18 and started a family almost immediately but these days, I feel there’s a shift and people are older before they settle down, for so many reasons. Things have changed and marriage and children are not the be all and end all anymore.
“Now I am confident and happy as I am. My career is picking up more than ever and I need to focus on myself.”