I've encountered enough dating red flags in my 26 years to know when to spot them. Men with a fear of commitment? Check. Clingy? Yep. Self absorbed? On more than one occasion...
But until last night, it never occurred to me that something I have zero control over could be deemed a turn-off to others. Who knew that never having been in love was enough reason to get dumped?
The realisation came during Sunday's Love Island, when Priya Gopaldas and Brett Staniland were talking about their dating history, and broached the topic of saying those three little words.
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Brett, 27, confirmed he'd never had a girlfriend, and when asked by Priya (herself aged just 23) whether he'd ever been in love, he admitted that he hadn't.
"Do you feel like there's something wrong with me now?" Brett asked, sensing Priya's shock at the confession.
To which she grimaced, and replied: "Yeah, I think you're a bit of a robot", before promptly telling the girls she had "the ick".
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In the aftermath of the pair's frosty date, I was left feeling a little bamboozled. Should I, too, expect to be judged because I haven't yet met 'The One'? And how can I ever meet my dream partner if I'm being written off for having not yet done so?
Taking to social media, many shared similar sentiments.
"It is actually not mental to not have been in love by 27?" one person wrote. "Do people know love is a big thing?? It's not an every day thing".
A second tweeted: "Ok people! IT IS NOT WEIRD to be 27 and not been in a relationship or in love! Let's normalise this!
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"There are people in their 30s who haven't had a boyfriend or girlfriend. Priya that was a ridiculously shallow remark!"
To some extent I understand it. You might think people like me aren't serious about settling down, or that there is something inherently wrong with us, which has stopped us progressing with somebody in the past.
But is it really fair to paint every perpetually single 20-something with the same brush?
Speaking to Tyla, psychotherapist and relationship expert Sally Baker explains: "There's an assumption that [Brett] has no experience. Priya is saying 'I’m different to you', and the inference is that she feels more experienced [when it comes to dating].
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"But just because he hasn't been in love it doesn't mean he hasn't had meaningful relationships...he’s not saying that he hasn’t socialised, or that he doesn’t have a circle of friends.
"To make a negative judgement out of an omission is a bizarre stance to take".
Close in age to Brett myself, I've never considered my somewhat flimsy dating history as something to be embarrassed about.
The truth is, modern dating is hard, and as someone with plenty of experience being in situation-ships and very little in a settled relationship, I know this all too well.
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For several years, I actively didn't want a boyfriend. And subsequently, when I decided that I was open to meeting somebody, the pool of men turned out to be somewhat lukewarm, thanks to an amalgamation personality clashes, circumstantial factors, and (ahem) the odd ghost story.
I have male friends who have been through the exact same, too.
"The problem with dating is that it doesn't just matter if you want to meet somebody," Tom*, 27, tells me.
"People see a guy in their late twenties who hasn't been in love and assume they're a player, or heartless, but what if they just haven't dated the right person yet?
"With apps like Hinge and Tinder, it's so easy to date a bunch of people who are wrong for you, and that's pretty much been the case for me so far".
Is it not possible that - like us - Brett simply hasn't come across anybody he wants to drop the L-bomb to?
Sally is quick to concur that it is indeed a tough road for today's daters.
For those looking for something serious, she explains that dating apps “tend to delay people falling in love” and “making a commitment to one special person”.
While they might provide a wealth of options (thus helping you find the love of your life in the long-run) they often lead to a bigger quantity of “more superficial” relationships before you reach that point.
"With modern dating theres a sweetshop mentality," she says. "It's hard for anyone to settle for anyone when you never know who’s going to pop up on your timeline next."
Then, of course, there's the fact that 'love' is completely subjective, anyway. Priya could date somebody for five months and believe she's head over heels for them, and I could go on the exact same dates and feel distinctly less emotionally invested. Who is to say that one of us has more romantic experience than the other?
Plus Brett's idea of love might be completely different to yours, or mine, or Priya's, so measuring someone's worth on whether they believe they've felt an arbitrary emotion is futile, as well as being downright petty.
"Our perceptions of love don’t ever stop changing all the way through life," Sally explains, adding that it's something we all feel "differently".
Today, like many of my single friends, I'm still hoping I'll one day get the fairytale - but I'm not going to let anybody else's judgements rush me into the wrong relationship.
Sally advises: "Don’t force it, because you’ll probably compromise what you’re looking for.
"See lots of people, live lots of life, it’s gonna happen with the right person when you're both ready."
And if anybody calls you a robot? Tell them where to stick it...
Featured Image Credit: ITV