President of Tamworth Pride Dianne Harris to feature on new ABC show 'Better Date than Never'

Made by the creators of Love on the Spectrum, Better Date Than Never will shine a light on the challenges of finding love in a rural area.

President of Tamworth Pride Dianne Harris will make her debut on the program next Tuesday, January 31, and will focus on the challenges of LGBTQ+ dating in the country.

"Being in a regional area, for starters the internet is useless, so that just about wipes out all of those apps everybody's got on their phones for dating services," she said.

On top of that, Dianne's identity as a trans woman carries its own set of dating hurdles.

"I don't look at it as a disability by any means, it's not, it just makes everything harder," she said.

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Dianne has been searching for a partner online for the past two years, connecting briefly with a woman from Sydney, but their relationship fizzled out due to the distance between them.

In the five years since transitioning Dianne has also tried dating straight men, but she said they're "not my cup of tea".

Dianne said the crux of her problem is simply how small her dating pool is.

"For a transgender person, male to female, straight women look at us and go, 'you're not male, so not interested,' and the lesbian women look at us and go, 'well hang on, you're not female,' so they're not really interested either," she said.

Despite helping to organise some of Tamworth's biggest Pride events, Dianne has had less success in her personal dating life.

"It's a lonely life to live when you know nobody's there for you, or even interested in you," she said.

That's when Dianne's friends told her about a casting call for a new dating show on the ABC.

"They went, 'Di! You've been trying to find somebody for a relationship for the last five years, why don't you put your hand up for this?' I think they thought it was going to be a magic bullet," she said.

Magic bullet or no, Dianne couldn't say, only that we'd have to watch the show to find out.

Instead she talked about what she aimed to get out of her experience.

"For me it was about raising awareness and being genuine and being true to yourself, more than finding a date, though that would've been a bonus!" she said.

"If that one person sees this in the city and it takes them from a place where life's not worth living to 'If she can do it, I'll give it a shot,' then it'll be worth the whole exercise," she said.

Dianne encourages everyone who likes dating shows, especially fans of Love on the Spectrum, to give Better Date than Never a try.

"It's not scripted, it's not about the beautiful people, it's just about ordinary everyday people that you meet and some of their trials and tribulations," she said.

Better Date than Never premiers on ABC and ABC iview at 8pm on Tuesday, January 24.

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