Finding companionship on Tinder, possibly the most well-known of all the dating apps, may not exactly be as straight-forward as it may seem to be. After all, the road to true love never runs smooth. A Brooklyn man’s recent experience on the dating app led to, in his own words, “an epic tale about subterfuge.” He and many other men ended up talking to the same woman on Tinder, who in the end duped them in a way they never saw coming. The men realised that they were a part of a large social experiment orchestrated by a female mastermind. Before he went on to explain what happened in a series of tweets, he urged his followers to grab popcorn first! People on Tinder Are Not Hooking Up? Study Shows Users Are Not Having More Casual Sex Than a Normal Person

The man Amir Pleasants said that he matched with an attractive woman named Natasha Aponte on Tinder who shared her number with him. But strangely, her profile had no bio, which he dismissed as harmless. She later asked him if it was OK if she messaged him after a week since she was swamped with work. She finally got back to him after two weeks and invited him to a DJing event at Union Square, Manhattan. At the venue, he saw the woman arrive flanked by two “enormous bodyguards in sunglasses.” Things got pretty weird pretty quickly from there on.

Here’s Pleasants’ account of what went down on Union Square that day:

The woman climbed onto the stage and announced that they have all been invited for a CHANCE to go on a date with her, hunger games style! She goes on to explain to the 100-odd shell-shocked men gathered at the event about what would it take for them to date her. The woman Natasha, who also happens to be an actress, model and a singer, revealed that she shortlisted the men after weeding out those under 5-foot-10 and men named Jimmy or Toms. “No beer bellies, no beards, no bald guys, no khakis…” she said out loud, inviting guffaws from the audience. Pleasants said that although most men decided to stay back, he left! Some of the men who stayed back happily obliged her by going through push-ups and foot races.

Here's the video of the event:

Tinder, like most dating spaces, has a disproportionate number of men than women. Not surprisingly, it’s the women who call the shots most of the time since it’s a matter of quality and not quantity for them. Men are known to serially right swipe women in the hope of finding a single match, while women are known to be more selective. But a situation like one that unfolded at Union Square arose because of the upper hand women enjoy on these apps. While the men who were promised a one-on-one date with Natasha has every reason to be pissed off, they should thank their lucky stars they didn't encounter Priya Seth on Tinder who murdered her date.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 22, 2018 01:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).