Interested in meeting fellow dog owners? Try Twindog. Have facial hair or want to date those who do? Download Bristlr. Gluten intolerant? Sign up to Gluten Free Singles. Created by San Diego-based friends Sheri Grande and , it’s the first online platform for daters with coeliac disease. “I had anxiety before going on first dates,” she says. “I’d worry about choosing restaurants. Would they have gluten-free options? Would I have to explain why I was gluten free? Would I seem high maintenance?” After doing some research, the pair discovered that 1 per cent of the US population (approximately 3 million people) had coeliac disease and many more were choosing to eat gluten free. Their site now has 36,000 members from around the world. “More and more people are choosing niche dating sites over larger traditional ones,” adds Romaya. “It’s just a fact that relationships last longer when partners have similar lifestyles.”

Romaya, who suffers from the condition herself, admits she found it stressful dating people who didn’t understand her dietary requirements

This assumption has also driven the growth of religious dating platforms. Prospective daters can declare their denomination (from Orthodox and conservative to just Jewish), say whether they are kosher or not and upgrade to JSwipe First Class for premium features including a boosted profile that appears twice as often. Christian Mingle and Salt have found similar success with the Christian market, while the Single Muslim app has a database of over two million people. Shaadi, an online matchmaking service for people of South Asian origin which was founded in 1997, also operates an appbined with the site, it is responsible for a new match being made every 2.4 seconds. Læs resten →