Who said you can’t find love on Tinder? Why would this supermarket of flirtation with 66 million users (78% men for 21% women) be dedicated only to meetings without a future and disillusioned erotic pragmatism? Today, countless lasting, heartfelt stories begin with a right swipe, that swipe of the finger across the screen that keeps profiles attractive.
When, in 2018, she saw the photo of Simon Leviev appear on her smartphone, a handsome dark-haired man sitting at the front of a sailboat, hedonistic, adventurous, Cecilie Fjellhoy said to herself that he corresponded to many of her criteria. Protagonist of the new documentary event The Tinder Scammer, broadcast since February 2 on Netflix, this 29-year-old Norwegian at the time, an IT consultant living in London, then “swiped” to the right.
A few moments later, Simon answers her and invites her to join him at the bar of the very chic Four Seasons hotel in the British capital. Unlike all those guys who tamper with their profile to try to show off (on dating sites, 12% of men would lie about their size according to an Ifop study dating from 2021), the one who looks perfectly like the photos posted on Tinder immediately made a strong impression on her, coming out of the elevator with her Hermès belt. “I’m looking for this devouring passion that we’ve been told since childhood. My earliest love memories date back to Disney movies. (…) The feeling that a prince will come to save us remains rooted in us,” confides the young lady in front of the camera.
Caviar, Rolls-Royce and sweet words
That’s good, Simon, who presents himself as the CEO of LLD Diamonds and the son of the Russian-Israeli diamond dealer Lev Leviev, would be modestly nicknamed “the prince of diamonds”. To top it off, separated from the mother of his daughter, he is looking for a stable relationship. So, when he offers Cecilie to fly away immediately in a private jet to Bulgaria, the young woman accepts. “I couldn’t believe my eyes, I felt like I was in a movie. » Could love have finally knocked on the windowpane of the smartphone, in the guise of this young man with dark hair, whose Instagram profile is overflowing with photos of fiestas around the world, sports cars and lobsters as if rained ? Cecilie wants to believe it, especially since her courtier is extremely considerate: champagne, caviar, Rolls-Royce, giant bouquet of roses, sweet words.
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