It was February 2018, in Bordeaux. Following a few relationships that ended badly, Barbara was single. After a friend of hers found love on Badoo, she decided to set up an account.
At the same time, Kevin was having a drink with a couple of friends who teased him about his dating profile picture. They took a more flattering and better-framed one, which he uploaded the same evening as soon as he got home. It was 11 p.m.
Shortly after creating her account, Kevin’s photo caught Barbara's eye; "He seemed to go out a lot, which I liked!” Until then, she had never approached anyone on a dating app. But that day, she decided to take the lead and send him a message and he quickly messaged her back. It was the first of many messages: they ended up talking until 5 a.m. Work, experiences, desires–they told each other everything. When they went to bed, much later than expected, they already felt that they knew each other. "She seemed to have character, and that's exactly what I was looking for," remembers Kevin.
An immediate spark: "I felt like a schoolgirl."
During the following days, they spoke almost every day, all day long. Barbara felt confident in Kevin's interest, and he often wrote to her, sometimes at night, to tell her how much he appreciated their exchanges, and how much he looked forward to meeting her. Eventually, he suggested a cinema date, and Barbara accepted.
Flash forward to the 21st of February 2018. Kevin arrived at the cinema feeling very relaxed. For Barbara, it was the opposite. She worried that their conversation wouldn’t flow as easily as online. "I lacked self-confidence, and I was afraid that he would see me and leave. I was super stressed!"
Thankfully, their mutual interest was obvious when they met. "I was really myself on the app, and so was Barbara,” says Kevin. Kevin sensed Barbara's lack of confidence, but he teased her to bring her out of her shell, and she relaxed.
"I felt like a schoolgirl. I found him handsome and funny," says Barbara. "I thought his eyes were beautiful. I liked him immediately."
After the film, despite the February cold, they walked around Bordeaux three times, talking, to make the date last. Kevin wanted to kiss Barbara but had difficulty overcoming his shyness. "I wasn’t very confident with flirting,” says Kevin. “I said to Barbara, "It‘s complicated at the beginning of a relationship; you never know how to kiss the other person.” Barbara replied, “Try and see what happens.”
"He told me he loved me after two or three weeks"
They saw each other again the very next day. "The more I discovered about her, the more I believed that she was the one for me,” says Kevin. After two or three weeks, Kevin told Barbara that he loved her–and she said she felt the same.
"I care about my parents and their opinion,” says Barbara. “I had a very clear idea in mind: I wanted to wait to be in a long-term relationship before introducing them to anyone." But with Kevin, she knew he was right for her. Less than two months after their first date, she introduced Kevin to her parents in a wine bar. Despite Barbara's stress, the evening went perfectly: Kevin's humour - and his little gifts - won over her parents.
The beginning of life together
In May, Kevin was still living with his brother but found himself at Barbara’s studio more and more often. Each time he visited, he left a few belongings there, until there wasn’t much left to bring.
"Everything was done slowly, until one day, he brought his TV and his cat, and he never left again...except for the evenings when we had a fight and slept at his brother's house,” remembers Barbara. But even during these arguments, they spent the night texting each other.
When Kevin's ex tried to separate them, they faced their first serious argument. It was impossible to split them up: they trusted each other and ended up laughing at their spat.
An ingenious proposal: "I spent 6 months training the dog"
In March 2019, the couple needed more space. Barbara and Kevin left their first nest for a bigger apartment, a little further from the city centre.
In February 2020, Kevin knew it was time to propose. "I knew it was right, so why not go for it?" he remembers. For 6 months, Kevin had been preparing his proposal to Barbara. The plans were sophisticated and even involved training their dog to help him.
On one February evening, Barbara and Kevin took the tram to Bordeaux. At the restaurant, Barbara began to suspect something. "We were alone in this room in the restaurant, whereas all the other people were sitting in the main section, and we drank champagne during the meal. I began to expect a proposal, in vain," says Barbara.
They returned to their apartment, and Kevin sent Barbara to look for a gift in their room. Finally, the dog led her to the living room, where she found Kevin with one knee on the floor, ring in hand, ready to propose. "I had a whole speech prepared, but I didn't even have time to say two sentences before I started crying," says Kevin. It didn’t matter–Barbara said yes.
Their romantic moment was quickly interrupted: Ten minutes later, the doorbell rang and Kevin's brother arrived at their house. He warned them the same afternoon that he needed to sleep on their sofa, and Barbara didn’t understand Kevin's annoyance...But it makes sense now!
The first crisis: "We didn't understand each other anymore"
In April 2020, Barbara and Kevin's bubble was shaken during a dinner. The couple were joined by a colleague of Kevin’s who he considered a close friend, but Barbara realised that she was clearly interested in more than his friendship.
"Me, I was a little naive–I didn’t realise" explains Kevin. Barbara had some doubts. "I never believed that he cheated on me, but I thought they were attracted to each other, and that Kevin didn't realise it. I thought he was lying to himself, and that maybe he didn't love me anymore,” she recalls.
Kevin didn’t understand her pulling away. "I thought that she didn’t love me anymore, that she found excuses to reject me," he says.
For a few months, the couple didn't understand each other anymore. It was only when he discussed the situation with his Aunt and Uncle that Kevin realised it was time to put a little distance between him and his friend who wanted more. It was a difficult time, but they got through it with a lot of communication. Today, they have no difficulty talking about it, and even laugh about it.
"When we talked about having a baby, I was already pregnant!"
October 2020. For a few months, Barbara and Kevin had been thinking about expanding their family, and that it was time for them to try for a baby. Surprise: A few weeks later, they discovered Barbara was already pregnant!
Funnily enough, their story repeated itself: "The day Barbara told me she was pregnant, my sister was sleeping over at our house. She found out five minutes after me!” says Kevin.
The pregnancy went wonderfully. Kevin spoke to the baby a lot and put on weight while Barbara only wanted to eat chicken breast. "Barbara had gestational diabetes, so I sacrificed myself and ate all the nonsense,” he remembers.
In March 2021, the couple's grand wedding plans were postponed because of the pandemic, but they decided to get married anyway and celebrated their love a few months before welcoming their child.
Sacha, their little boy, arrived in June. From then on, board game evenings with friends and re-watching old TV sitcoms included Sacha too.
In April 2023, Barbara and Kevin welcomed their second child, Valentin, into the family. The four of them now live in a beautiful house provided by Kevin’s company. In a few years, they hope to buy their own holiday home near the beach.
Thanks to Badoo: "We were looking for each other for a long time, without finding each other".
For 10 years, Barbara and Kevin visited the same places and lived right next to each other, but they never met. Until they set up Badoo!
"I would never have dared approach him in real life. It was thanks to the app!" says Barbara. And if she had to offer some advice to singles? "Stop with the pictures of fish! We are tired of seeing fish on your profile pictures," she says laughing. Kevin adds: "Above all, just be yourself: it’s what allowed us to be so sincere with each other, so quickly!”.
