30 Of The Worst First Date Stories People Shared For Jimmy Fallon’s Hashtag Challenge

As the host of The Tonight Show often announces before he reads his favorite responses, each hashtag usually becomes a trending topic on Twitter in the US within minutes. This time, it was all about making people laugh by sharing real dating stories from hell that are nothing but entertaining. And looking at these tweets makes one thing clear — first dates are inherently awkward.

Fallon even kicked off the thread by sharing a funny experience: "My friend went to Red Lobster with a date who insisted on ordering everything in an Australian accent. He thought it was Outback Steakhouse." Well, a brief scroll through this list proves that some people have had it way, waaay worse.

In fact, a recent survey from Top10.com found that almost 60% of people admit to using an escape plan to get out of a bad first date. But how did they manage to get out of these nightmarish scenarios? Well, 21% of people under 29 years old texted friends and family to call them with an "emergency" that needs immediate attention, and another 21% of people over 60 preferred to be upfront by telling their date that they’re just not interested. Work and "not feeling well" were another two commonly used excuses, while the classic "use the bathroom" but quickly run the other way was a rare choice. But a choice nonetheless.

To gain more insight on first-date jitters and how to ensure we have a good time from an expert, Bored Panda reached out to Anna Eden, a dating and intimacy coach aiming to help career-focused people who’ve "made it" in life to make it in love so they can feel 100% fulfilled. She even shared her own #WorstFirstDate story in celebration of this viral thread: "A guy in Miami. On his way to me, he says the traffic is too bad and he turns around and sends a burrito delivery to my hotel room. I never met the guy. It was a good burrito tho!"

According to Eden, our nerves sometimes get the better of us during the first date because we’re too self-conscious. "Instead of focusing on co-creating, we focus on how we come across and what the other person will think about us," she told us.

"In general, we tend to attach performance to dates which can create pressure and discomfort. Especially if it’s an online date where you really have to put your face out there and the focus will be on what you’re saying, with less room for feeling the energy and taking in body language as an IRL date which can be more relaxing in that sense."

First dates can also feel quite intimidating because it’s vulnerable to open up and "be judged" by a potential partner, Eden added. "I think especially now, after these past two years of lockdowns and isolation, many singles experience social anxiety after staying home for so long. ... Suddenly we don’t get away with the sweatpants and we gotta put on our social skills. Honestly, even the extraverted got a bit introverted after this time!"

The coach pointed out that our nervous system prepares for the first date as we would go into the gladiator stadium — it tunes up all the stress levels and gets ready to fight or flight. "When in reality, we are just about to go on a date. Luckily we can teach our nervous system to unlearn the danger aspect of dating by practice and actually start to love going on dates. We get to see it as a fun meeting where we stay unattached to the outcome," Eden explained.