Los Angeles influencer Paige Davis has gone viral after filming herself waiting alone at a restaurant for a first date who never showed up — and she is now demanding that dating apps like Bumble be held accountable for the bad behavior of their users. Her clip has racked up 2 million combined views on TikTok and Instagram.
A $100 night out, an empty chair
Davis's dating nightmare began on Sept. 20, when she was visiting a friend in Miami and decided to swipe on Bumble. She matched with a "very attractive guy" in his late 30s who worked in finance, and they arranged to meet the following night at Casadonna, a waterfront Italian restaurant he chose. The date was originally set for 8 p.m., then pushed to 9 p.m.
She arrived at 8:40 p.m. that Monday night and ordered a drink by 9. At 9:07, he texted that he was "super close" — "like a block away." He never arrived. After more texts went unanswered and her call went straight to voicemail, a tearful Davis left the restaurant — in the rain — out more than $100 in Ubers, drinks, and a shrimp cocktail she had ordered while waiting.
The shocking Google discovery
Things took an even stranger turn when Davis searched the man's name online. His Bumble profile photo, she says, was a cropped close-up — but the same photo on his LinkedIn showed the full image: him in a tuxedo next to a woman in a formal dress. Davis has not claimed to know the woman's identity, but the discovery deepened her sense that the apps should vet users better.
A call for accountability — and star ratings
Davis, 35, who has been using dating apps on and off since 2012, says the apps themselves should do a better job vetting their users and give singles a way to submit feedback on delinquent daters. In her viral TikTok caption she urged followers to tag Bumble in the comments to get the company's attention.
"Someone commented, 'We rate Uber drivers, why can't we do that with men we date?'" she told the New York Post, adding that she supports a one-to-five-star rating system: did the person show up on time, and did they represent themselves accurately based on their photos? She has since been flooded with messages — "I've had thousands of people message me and be like, 'This has happened to me too'" — and her comments include actress Patricia Arquette ("So rude and so tacky") and actress Katherine Narducci, who demanded she "put his pic and number public."
This is not Davis's first brush with viral dating content: she went viral in 2024 for using a solo professional glam photo of herself for her holiday cards in hopes of attracting a man.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Life of Riley (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Takeaway
Whether or not dating apps ever adopt Uber-style star ratings, Davis's story has clearly struck a nerve: being stood up is one of modern dating's most widely shared humiliations, and millions are now watching to see if Bumble answers.
Sources: New York Post; Time Bulletin; Paige Davis on TikTok