In May 2021, the internet exploded when the Daily Mail published a photo of actors Tessa Thompson and Rita Ora in an alleged three-way kiss with filmmaker Taika Waititi.
Rumors flew that Ora and Waititi, who were already going out, were actually in an open relationship. Twitter was abuzz, even going so far as to assume the three of them were in a polyamorous situation. Others just wanted to get in on the threesome.
We don’t know the true story behind the photos, but one thing is for certain: Threesomes are hot this summer.
As more Americans get vaccinated, the dating pool is opening up and what singles are looking for is coming into focus. In a lot of cases, they’re looking for more than one person.
On Feeld, a sexual exploration app for both couples and singles, threesomes are the number one desire for both groups. The app saw a mind-blowing 670 percent increase in singles listing threesomes as their top desire from the beginning of 2020 to the beginning of 2021 according to Lyubov Sachkova, Feeld’s communication manager.
Furthermore, there’s been a 400 percent increase among women and a 500 percent increase among men with words describing ethical non-monogamy (ENM) or polyamory in their profiles.
Tinder itself mused that the future of dating is fluid, given that more bios than ever mention the phrases “see where things go” and “open to.” While there’s no data on whether this translates into threesomes, the ubiquitous dating app has been known to host “unicorn hunters” (straight couples looking for a bi woman to be their third/”unicorn”) and anecdotally, that hasn’t at all changed post-vaccination:
please god @tinder @hinge @ every other dating app, make a designated category for all the couples looking for their ~unicorn~ so i can avoid them
— rachel (@5i2ish) June 8, 2021
Even looking at pop culture, threesomes are having somewhat of a moment. There’s the Thompson/Waititi/Ora photo as well as The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard which releases mid-June. The movie is a sequel to The Hitman’s Bodyguard with the addition of, obviously, the wife.
Image: sCREENSHOT: lionsgate
The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard may not develop a sexual or emotional threesome between the three stars, but it’s definitely selling itself on that possibility. The trailer implores the audience to (at 1:27) “Brace yourself…for a killer threesome.” In between the cards, there’s an orgy joke:
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This isn’t to say threesomes are some new phenomenon, in life or in culture. Shame or Y Tu Mamá También, anyone? What’s more is that Feeld began as 3nder in 2014, which is indicative of most users’ goals on the app.
But in this messy nebulous space between pre- and post-pandemic, in a summer unlike the one last year but every other beforehand too, the thirst for multiple partners is palpable. For those who were coupled in 2020, they may want to explore adding someone else in the mix. As for singles, they may now want to touch so much after over a year of no touch at all.
We all survived isolation and either figurative or literal near-death experiences, and we want to embrace our newfound desires — or dormant ones we may not have allowed ourselves to explore in the Before Times.
It’s unclear whether this trend will be short-lived, but given that non-monogamy was on the rise even before the pandemic, it’s probably safe to say no. And why should it be? Even celebrities are getting in on it.