When it didn't happen by the time most of her peers were deep into dating, she decided to rip the band-aid off."I held a lot of shame around [having not had sex] for a long time.Despite putting herself out there, Anna-Nicole says the dating apps were a perpetual disappointment.She wanted a man who could be a husband and a father to her hypothetical children, and men were either not interested in anything serious, or there was zero chemistry.A turning point was reading Single at Heart by Bella DePaolo."Now that I can see that I'm not going to be a mother, I think that changes the picture for me."I deep down have always loved my own company It was one of the hardest things I've ever gone through."I don't feel the pressure now to find someone, according to my own time schedule."Fiona, 45, Melbourne/NaarmFiona's clocked up 180 dates without any leading to a serious relationship.She says the loneliness is "overwhelming"."Suddenly you're the only one on your couch on a Saturday night, and you've got no-one to go out with, no-one's replying to your text messages because they're all partnered up.Fiona — a rom-com fan — always assumed she'd just end up with a cinematic-like love."I think in my 20s all I wanted to do was have fun and I was just out and about with my girlfriends, and I put a lot of emphasis on my friendships."As you get older, you start to think … why isn't this happening for me?"She even applied for the reality TV show Married at First Sight