There is a place for the Derek Zoolanders of the world to find love, and that place is Tinder — but not the Tinder you swipe and match on. There is a more exclusive, invite-only extension of the app where celebrities, models, CEOs, and other high-powered individuals can match, fall in love, and make beautiful, high-powered babies.
TechCrunch broke the news about Tinder Select, the name for the more restricted portion of the app. Earning admittance to Select may be based on your status (IRL) as well as the app’s internal ratings system, the Elo Score, which is comprised of factors such as how much info you provide and the number of swipe rights (and lefts) you’re receiving.
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Screenshots show that the pinky-red gradient of the traditional app is replaced with a blue and purple gradient. Users seem to have the ability to toggle on and off Select — so, yes, a supermodel could still swipe with the rest of us non-Select folk. Those who are members of the elite Tinder club also seem to have a certain number of nominations for bringing others into the fold.
It's not clear how long Select has been in operation, but TechCrunch says that it has existed for least six months. With that timeline, it's possible that Select was inspired by events of this past summer, when Olympic athletes, including Ryan Lochte, were found swiping in Rio.
There is an inherent ickiness to Select, as its very existence implies that celebs, high-powered businessmen and women, and the rest of the beautiful people can only date among themselves. Everyone else just gets regular Tinder. But it's possible that Select was created to solve a problem that Zac Efron brought to light this summer: People are less likely to swipe right on photos of celebs because they think that the account is fake and that another user is trolling them.
Lesson learned: Looking for love is hard, even if you're one of the Zac Efrons of the world.
We've reached out to Tinder for comment and will update this post when we hear back.