Courted: Woman Introduces Dating App Where Men Pay Dates in Advance

In the digital-mediated dating scene of today, one woman has stirred controversy by demanding payment in advance from men to the women they want to date. As expected, men don’t sound amused with the idea.

The TikTok video went viral on X in the second week of January. The woman who appeared in it was described as a “single mom,” later identified as TikTok influencer Amanda Michelle, nicknamed Mandy. She is seen telling about the launch of a new dating app called Courted that she called “the best damn dating app that you’ve seen.” She goes on to say that the app would let a woman fix the deposit to be paid in advance by the man who wants to meet her for a date. She called this payment “preparation cost.”

Conservative commentator Kyle Seraphin, a former FBI agent and whistleblower, posted Mandy’s video on his X page with the word “prostitution app” that would let women turn dating into moneymaking and remain single for this purpose.

Most of the comments on Kyle’s post came from men who mocked Mandy and her idea of paying in advance for a date. Many guys called it a rephrased version of prostitution. Other comments ranged from expressing disgust to the point of throwing up at her nonsense to calling Mandy all sorts of bad names.

But men weren’t the only ones disgusted with the idea. Some women agreed with them as well. Slamming Mandy’s video’s message, social media influencer Tiffany Fong called it what Kyle had said about it.

Fong’s post gathered over 900 comments some of them coming from women and agreeing with her while the majority comments came from men. Another woman Daphne questioned Mandy’s preparation cost rationale and asked whether men would get a refund if they felt their date was trash.

Mandy’s video materializes the dating feature that was presented in a positive light last year on the Armenia-based dating website DatingPro. The site posted an article titled “How women are getting paid to date: a new trend in online dating” (August 13, 2025) that called it a “modern twist on traditional dating” with visibility and acceptance. Praising the trend from various angles, the article wrote:

With the right tools and platforms, individuals can explore this new dating model, blending romance with financial gain at a cost. It’s a fascinating evolution in the world of dating, one that offers both opportunity and intrigue.

The website for Courted, however, tells a different story than Mandy’s video message about the payment. It says the payment is required to make sure the people scheduling the date act responsibly and don’t cancel at the last minute. Per the site’s description:

When a date is scheduled in Courted, a date deposit may be required to confirm the plan. This deposit serves as a commitment signal, helping reduce last-minute cancellations and ensuring both people take the plan seriously.

The site says the app only holds the payment temporarily while the date is pending. But if both parties meet as planned and confirm, the payment is released automatically.

So did Mandy intentionally send the wrong message by calling the payment “preparation cost?” On this one, as they say, the jury is still out.