PAUL GREGORY, 38
PHOTOGRAPHY: JASON THOMPSON
We first started chatting on Growlr. I was beginning to get a bit disillusioned with the app because everyone seemed to be after one thing. I wanted more. I wanted a relationship, not just the physicality. Just chatting to John on Growlr, I felt a connection. We eventually lost contact on the app, as you do, but we finally met by chance on a night out in the Gay Village in Manchester. I could feel someone staring at me from the corner of the pub and it was him. We got chatting, in person this time, and we just clicked. It felt right. That was January of last year and we’ve been together ever since. It was instant attraction. Neither of us have the perfect body, or what everyone else would class as perfect, but we were both drawn to each other straight away. I suppose we look pretty similar: Chunky bears with beards, piercings and tattoos. I love all the small things we do together, the quiet times when we can chat about what the future holds. We enjoy writing poetry together and performing it for others – we’re both members of the same script writing group and we’re in the middle of planning our first book together, which is really exciting.