There are many stories about men lying about their age on dating apps in the hope of meeting a younger woman.
But beauty entrepreneur Liz Earle, 61, turned the cliché around when she started looking for a husband online after a divorce in her 50s.
She revealed how she took ten years off her age for her dating profile – apparently with great success as she is now celebrating an anniversary with a man 17 years her junior.
Ms Earle made the candid admission on the How To Be 60 podcast.
She explained: ‘I was 59 at the time and I had just done one of my genetic tests for my book and it came back at 39, so I thought, there’s quite a big difference, what am I going to do?
Beauty entrepreneur Liz Earle, 61, revealed how she knocked ten years off her age for her dating profile – apparently with great success as she is now celebrating an anniversary with a man 17 years her junior
‘If I fill in 59, does he expect someone to behave like this? Maybe there is a perception behind that?
“So I split the difference and put it at 49.”
She said her friend told her she had to “play the numbers game” and make 100 coffee dates to find the right man.
“I got about eight cups of coffee and no one really got excited,” she said.
‘And then I just got a message in my inbox and I thought: hey, that’s quite an interesting young person… a year later we’re celebrating our anniversary.’
Ms Earle added that she wanted to “manage expectations in the best way possible, but I had to make a confession very quickly.”
“I did say that, and I was a little nervous about it,” she said.
The businesswoman, who grew up in Portsmouth, founded Liz Earle Beauty in 1995 and has written more than 35 books on beauty, wellness and nutrition.
She divorced her second husband, Patrick Drummond, in her 50s and described that period as “terrifying.”
But it led her to do new and “weird” things, including going to a club for the first time in her life.
She explained: ‘My boyfriend took me to Ibiza for the first time last year because I’ve never been clubbing before.
“He used to be a big clubber – he was a DJ promoter and stuff. He took me along and I did buy a silver sequin mini dress, which I wore with some very, very high platforms.”
Dating secret: Ms. Earle made the candid confession on the How To Be 60 podcast
Liz said she switched from an app to a dating website after being blocked for allegedly impersonating herself
Ms Earle said her online search for a partner had not been without problems.
She said she switched from an app to a dating website after being blocked for allegedly impersonating herself.
‘I was very honest: I uploaded photos of myself [but] I just changed my name a tiny bit.
“Anyway, I got blocked for pretending to be Liz Earle,” she added.