Welsh TV presenter presenter Gethin Jones says he was banned from Hinge after the dating app received more than 300 complaints from people who thought he was catfishing (impersonating someone else online with intent to deceive) on the platform.
The BBC presenter told the Restless Natives podcast hosts Martin Compston and Gordon Smart he was “kicked off” the platform twice for violating its codes of conduct.
Jones said: “I should know better to not verify my account.
“The moment when I have to write to Hinge, ‘Dear Hinge’ on a Thursday night, on your own, writing to an online dating app. ‘Hi it’s Gethin here, 46. I just want to get my money back because it’s not really working for me,’ eating some cereal because I hadn’t got some food in.
“That was when I was like ‘what am I doing with my life’.”
BBC News asked Hinge to comment. On its website, Hinge said if a user was banned then “we’ve detected activity associated with your account that violated our Terms of Service. We take violations of our policies very seriously,”
Its policy said users must not “misrepresent your identity, age, current or previous positions, qualifications, or affiliations with a person or entity”.
Jones is a popular presenter in the UK. Having worked for The One Show (BBC) and This Morning (ITV), he now presents the BBC’s daily magazine show Morning Live. He was previously engaged to
Jones was previously engaged to Welsh singer Katherine Jenkins before the couple split in 2011.
