It’s never too late to swipe right

There is a quiet assumption that once a certain birthday passes, love is something you should have already figured out or stopped hoping for. Yet for many people later in life, especially after divorce or bereavement, the desire for companionship, connection and romance doesn’t disappear. If anything, it becomes more honest.

That belief is what led me to write  — a candid account of starting again as an older Jewish woman in a modern dating world that often feels confusing, judgemental and unforgiving.

With Valentine’s Day approaching and its promises of romance, it’s easy to feel left out if you’re facing a quiet night in with Countdown rather than dinner for two. And despite what people assume, being a psychic doesn’t give me any special advantage when it comes to love.

Yes, I’ve been a psychic for more years than I care to count, but it hasn’t given me any help with the heart. I have helped to guide others to their ‘one’, but when it comes to my own relationships, there’s no crystal ball — just trial, error and a fair amount of humility.

After my marriage ended, I stepped back into dating for the first time since the 1980s. Back then, you met people face to face, spoke on landlines and knew exactly where you stood if the phone didn’t ring. Today’s dating world — with its apps, ghosting and strange new language — can leave even confident women feeling unsure of themselves.

Many women I meet through my work tell me the same thing. They feel out of practice, exposed and uncertain about how to present themselves on dating apps that seem designed for a younger generation. Add Jewish dating into the mix — with communal expectations, unsolicited advice and a shortage of suitable introductions — and it becomes even more complicated.

I wrote this book to tell the truth about what dating later in life actually looks like. Not the polished version, but the real one — where faith, tradition and self-worth collide with modern reality.

There have been moments of genuine laughter and moments of disbelief. One date arrived at a favourite Hampstead restaurant looking far older than his photos, wearing a mask and plastic gloves — two years after Covid — before sanitising the table and demanding a highly specific three-course order. Another man, charming on the phone and full of promise, chose Mother’s Day morning to send me an unsolicited and deeply unwelcome photo. Those moments may be funny in hindsight, but they also reflect the vulnerability involved in putting yourself back out there.

Beneath the humour is something more serious: the courage it takes to begin again in a community that values family, continuity and shared faith, while still searching for your besheret. Being psychic doesn’t shield me from disappointment — it simply means I experience my own lessons very clearly.

In an era driven by curated perfection, Swipe Right challenges the idea that love must follow a neat timeline or end in a flawless fairytale. It’s about resilience, self-respect and staying open-hearted even when things don’t go to plan.

If I hope readers take one thing from this book, it’s this: you are not broken because something didn’t work out. You are still evolving. And if you’re still hoping to meet someone — at any age — you are not alone.And if nothing else, I hope it makes you laugh, recognise yourself, and think: thank G-d, it’s not just me.

Swipe Right – The Kosher Medium Goes Dating is available now https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1805881604

Bev Mann is an international clairvoyant medium, teacher and author based in north-west London and author of Spirits, Scandal & Sparkly Shoes
bevmann.com