10 First-Date Lies Women Tell

“I met my husband at the Jersey Shore. I was out with my girlfriends partying, and this cute guy originally from Alabama (accent and all!) but living in NYC came up to me. We started chatting, and when he asked me what I did for a living, I didn’t skip a beat and said, ‘I’m a ballerina,’ and I stood up on my toes, then did a grand plié. He asked for my number, and when he called to ask me out the next evening, he asked if he could come to a dance performance. Whoops—guess I had too much to drink because I didn’t even remember telling him I was a faux-ballerina. I confessed to being an art teacher, and he still took me out on a great date. Two years later, he proposed and he calls me his ‘little ballerina.’ This past Halloween I dressed up as Nina from Black Swan just for him.”

—Dana, 30, New York City

“Sure, I’ve lied on first dates! When a guy asks me if I want to go out again, I say yes. Then I don’t answer the phone when he calls. I have a hard time hurting a guy’s feelings, and I don’t want to seem rude because I did get a free meal.”

—Christina, 37, Redondo Beach, Calif.

“When my first date revealed he was a hard-core video-gamer, I felt compelled to connect with him, so I said I was a gamer too. But I’m really not—unless you count playing Super Mario Brothers as a kid. Good thing Mario is a hot topic worth reminiscing about; we talked for hours about my ‘mad skills.’”

—Liz, 25, Westchester, Penn.

“I live in West Hollywood and work in the film industry. On a first date, I exaggerated my role in the office and said I was a producer, when really I was an office assistant. I dated this guy for a few months, and it worked out because I did get to attend a lot of cool movie premieres and events, like the Golden Globes gifting suite when my big boss couldn’t make it. We stopped seeing each other before my life as a coffee/errand/do-it-all gal was revealed to him.”

—Jazmine, 30, Los Angeles

“When my girls and I go out, we all give ourselves names that start with a P—they are the most pretty, silly names, and it’s a ton of fun to see the guys reactions to Pia, Petra, Penny, Polly, Prin! The five P’s! (Especially if we weren’t interested and they were total creepers). If one of us likes a guy, we come clean, but that rarely happens, so just call me Polly.”

—Alissa, 28, Montclair, N.J.

“I met a cute guy at a coffee shop, and a couple of days later he called to ask me out on a first date. After saying yes, I immediately went online to stalk his profile on MySpace, where I learned he was really into the band Slayer. So I listened to a few of their songs. On the date, he brought up the band and I blurted out, ‘OMG, I love Slayer!’ (I do not; Britney Spears and Dolly Parton are my iPod’s most-played artists.) Luckily, thanks to my online research, I knew a few song titles, so I was able to save face when he asked what my favorite songs were.”

—Lauren, 26, New York City

“My blind date got completely wasted and rambled on and on about how he was a diehard Louisiana State football fan. Blah, blah, blah—boring! To get even, I told him I was actually the marketing director for the team’s football program and that I could hook him up with tickets, hotels, restaurant gift cards, merch—you name it. This seemed to sober him up a little, and he started asking loads of questions about my work—gulp. I kept my cool on the date but never talked to him again.”

—Brittany Hutchinson, 24, Baton Rouge, La.

“I’m a single mom, but I told my date I was just single and lived alone, when the truth was, I moved in with my parents so they could help me out. I like to feel a guy out before I tell him I have a kiddo and live with my ‘rents, to see if he’s genuine or a jerk!”

—Jenn, 37, Westfield, Ind.

“I went on a date with a guy and told him I was single, when really I was in a serious relationship with someone else. I ended up breaking up with my boyfriend, and eventually the guy I lied to became my husband. We’ve been happily married for eight years, and he still shakes his head every time I tell him I was still dating someone when I met him.”

—Elissa, 31, Queens, N.Y.

“I faked a phone call once during a first date and told the guy that my roommate was in the ER and I had to go. It was probably really obvious that I was lying to get away from him, but to be fair, he asked me if he could tie me up and take pictures before the appetizer arrived.”

—Jemma, 24, Cliffside Park, N.J.

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