Skip to main content
dana-fowles
13th February 2012

V-Day

Don’t fall into the solitary chick flick-ice cream-wine trap this Valentine’s
Categories:
TLDR

This year I will be spending Valentine’s Day with the perfect man, Jake. He is gorgeous, intelligent, well dressed, caring and funny. Unfortunately, he also happens to be gay.

The two of us have always wished that our lives would play out like films, with handsome Mr. Darcy types waiting to sweep us off our feet.

Sadly, during the past couple of weeks our lives have played out more like episodes of Eastenders – or, even worse – Jeremy Kyle.

Picture this: you return home to find your best friend on the floor, rocking himself in the foetal position.

When asked what on earth the matter is, he replies: ‘My boyfriend is a porn star’. This, I promise you, did actually happen. I still can’t quite believe it myself.

Jake had accidentally stumbled across the guy he had been seeing in a few, shall we say, compromising positions online. I know, what are the chances? The employee of a corporate company by day, an actor of the X rated variety by night. I kid you not.

Not long afterwards, I found out that the ‘lovely’ guy I had been seeing had also been with one of my friends. Yes, at the same time. Despite this, I absolutely refuse to spend February 14th recreating the ‘All by myself’ scene from Bridget Jones.

Although this may be hard to believe, there is no law in place which states that us singletons must sit in and cry ourselves to sleep on the ‘dreaded’ day. So, invite your mates over, grab a bottle of wine, order a pizza and put a film on. In Finland it is called Ystävänpäivä, which actually means ‘Friend’s day’.

This is what I intend to keep in mind when I end the night spooning the only man for me, my soul mate, my one true love – my gay best friend.

Dana Fowles

Dana Fowles

TWEETING @DanaFowles By day: Lifestyle editor at The Mancunion, aspiring women’s magazine journalist. By night: Lover of gay men and Canal St, prone to believing I am Beyonce on the d floor (embarrassing).

More Coverage

Your twenties aren’t a race. Stop measuring your progress against everyone else’s highlight reel. Live in the moment. Embrace the messy, ordinary moments that shape you.
The second-hand marketplace is now lots of people’s first choice for clothing, from your housemates to your mum. But over time, the platform has turned into a sea of re-sold fast fashion. Heidi Taylor asks a 19-year-old and a 71-year-old if that’s such a bad thing.
The phrase ‘dropping out’ often feels synonymous with ‘failing’
The false hope the 2026 ‘rebrand’ brings for young women in fact reinforces there is a correct way to exist. Self-improvement should not demand uniformity but should celebrate authenticity