A woman was blocked from dating app Bumble for “catfishing” after she lost 10st – making her unrecognisable from her previous profile pic. Claire Sullivan, 41, decided to get back in the dating game and posted a new profile picture on Bumble.She hadn’t been on the app for a number of years – and last used it when she was around 19st.
But the mum-of-one says she noticed all her new photos had been rejected by the platform. A message from Bumble said her account had been “blocked” for “having an inauthentic profile” which can include “catfishing” and “pretending to be another person”.Claire, a charity worker from Hillingdon, London, said: “It’s hilarious – I couldn’t believe it when they accused me of catfishing.
“I just wanted my photos to look like me now and not me then. I wouldn’t want someone to swipe on an old picture and expect to meet 19st me because I look different now I’m 9st.All my pictures were within the rules – all decent and fully clothed.
“They’re all natural with no filters or anything else going on. You expect you can change your looks and still be allowed to meet people but it’s like ‘computer says ‘no”.”
Claire has been single for about 13 years and signed up with Bumble around five years ago when she weighed 19st, she said. She had a gastric by-pass in month 2022 and lost ten stone, and updated her Bumble profile with new glam pictures.She said: “I’m a single mum so it’s harder to get out and meet people.
“I just wanted the opportunity to date again. I haven’t done anything wrong. I just changed the way I look – you’ve got to be allowed to do that.I thought they’d see that I’m not fake. I look similar, just slimmer.”
The Bumble message said: “You are permanently blocked from this account for violation of our inauthentic profiles policy. To safeguard our community we don’t allow impersonation or misinterpretation on our platform.Please know that our team has thoroughly reviewed this decision and no exceptions will be made.”
Claire emailed the Bumble team again and they have agreed to review her situation, she says. A Bumble spokesperson said: “At Bumble our focus is to help people find genuine connections, and we have a number of measures in place to make sure the profiles our members see are authentic.
“In this case it seems like our moderation team was working extra hard, but we have now reversed the block and wish Claire all the best in her dating journey!”