With restrictions lifted - for now, at least - you might be once again starting to venture out onto the dating scene.
And while we all hope our love lives are brimming with excitement and decent conversation, most of us come across a dud or two along the way.
Well, if you're ever in need of a way out of a particularly bad date, a group of Playboy models have shared their 'universal' excuse that should do the trick.
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Ju Isen, Vanusa Freitas and Luana Sandien have all had their fair share of bad dating experiences, and said making up an excuse about an emergency involving a friend is a surefire way of making a quick getaway.
Speaking about the sly trick, Ju said: "I always ask a friend to call me during first dates. It's my escape plan if the date is bad I'll make up a story and say it's something urgent and leave."
Fellow model Vanusa pulls out a similar routine when meeting up with a potential new partner.
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She explained: "I made up a story about a friend being locked out of the house and I was the only one with a spare key.
"I usually do this when I realise there's no chemistry whatsoever and it wasn't going to lead to anything."
Luana, who says she is 'autosexual', which is when a person is attracted to themselves, likes to ramp things up when she's trying to escape a borefest of a date.
Rather than a fairly tame 'my flatmate is locked out and I need to go home' kind of thing, she tells her dates that a friend is really ill and has had to go to hospital.
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Seems a bit like tempting fate, to be honest, but all's fair in love and war I guess.
She explained: "Using friends as an excuse to run away from bad dates is something universal.
"I once met a guy at the cub while I wasn't wearing my glasses and we decided to go on a date.
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"But when I actually got to see him, I didn't like him.
"On the day of the date, I made up a story about a friend who got sick from drinking too much and I had to take her to the hospital."
Now, if things do go well, however, a dating expert claimed recently that she believes women should go against tradition and sometimes pay for the date - but she says there's only one set of circumstances, and the pair should go halves then.
Podcast host and relationship advisor Jana Hocking reckons that men should try to show that they are 'assertive and manly' by picking up the bill on the first date, but revealed the one exception on her Kinda Sorta Dating show.
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She said: "I always get in trouble when I say the man should pay for the first date.
"I have rectified that, I do think now if the girl has asked the guy out, they should go halves. I still don't think the girl should pay for all of it."
Topics: Dating, Relationships, US News, playboy