Imogen Clarke and Estella Kyriacou share a bed, cook together every night, and can't spend five minutes apart, even after an argument.
You'd be forgiven for thinking they've been in a relationship for years, but really, they're best friends who met five months ago.
The 25-year-olds matched on Bumble BFF, a version of the dating app designed for people who want to find mates instead of dates. They both made profiles after moving to London — Kyriacou from Toronto to study law, and Clarke from elsewhere in the UK to work as a mortgage broker.
Although they both had a few friends in the city and strong friendship groups at home, they felt lonely. Until she met Kyriacou, Clarke said she had accepted that maybe she'd always feel a bit lonely in London.
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They were both looking to meet new people on the app and find "someone to share the everyday with," Kyriacou said.
Kyriacou and Clarke weren't alone in feeling isolated. Last year, US Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared an "epidemic of loneliness" in the US. Young people seem to be hardest hit, with a survey by healthcare and insurance company Cigna finding 79% of adults aged 18 to 24 reported feeling lonely in 2021, compared to 41% of people aged 66 and older.
In finding each other, Clarke and Kyriacou managed to avoid this trend. They describe each other as "platonic soulmates," and can't believe their luck.
Bonding over being single and wanting to move out
Clarke and Kyriacou were attracted to each other's Bumble BFF profiles by their shared interests — "hot girl walks," travel, fashion, eating out — and the fact they were both single.
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Each wanted to find someone who was in the same stage of life and would want to embrace being single, talk about men, and double date.
On a Sunday in March, they started exchanging messages on the app, and met up to barhop the following Thursday.
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"We didn't waste any time. We spent a good couple of hours together," Clarke said.
"I knew after I left that I could see myself being good friends with Estella," she added. "I sort of had a feeling that we'd get along really well."
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When they met, neither was in an ideal living situation. Clarke was living in a quiet flatshare and wanted more social interactions at home, while Kyriacou was in student accommodation and was looking to build connections outside university.
Living together "just seemed like it would be fun," Clarke said.
They moved in together quickly. "We met on March 14th, we signed our lease on April 11th, and we moved in on May 1st," Kyriacou said.
Sharing a bed — platonically
Before they moved in together, Clarke and Kyriacou had joked about having sleepovers in each other's rooms, but it took less than two weeks for the jokes to become a reality.
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After spotting a spider one night, Kyriacou fled her bedroom and stayed in Clarke's bed. Failing to find it the next day, she joined Clarke again, and then again, and again.
"I kept making jokes, saying 'I'm going to kick you out.' But then I'd be like, 'oh no wait, I don't mean it, you can stay,'" Clarke said. "It sounds weird, but it's just like when you go on holiday with your friends, and you share a room and you just laugh and debrief the day before you go to bed."
People often think their relationship is more than just a friendship, but they're sure it's not.
"At first we were like, wait, do you think we love each other? And we sat and we analyzed," Kyriacou said, adding "because we do act like we've been married for 10 years."
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"But then we're like, wait, no, we love men. Men are one thing we get so excited about," Clarke said.
Making friends as an adult can be tough
Clarke and Kyriacou are glad to have formed such a close bond so quickly at the age of 25. Like many young adults, Clarke had struggled to make close friends after finishing school.
"It's so hard after university or school and being in the workforce, it's hard to click with people," Kyriacou said.
People can also be at very different stages of their lives, adding another obstacle to connection. Kyriacou felt like others were getting to "that stage of adulthood that's so serious and grownup," which just wasn't for her.
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They advised people wanting a friendship like theirs to be open to meeting people — whether that's on apps like Bumble, or public places like the gym or on social media. And, when they do, Clarke said, "the key is to actually be yourself from the get-go."
Feeling ashamed of how they met at first, they lied to their families and told them they met at the gym. But now they're "really proud" and have told their families the truth, Clarke said. Kyriacou has even met Clarke's grandfather and Clarke has video-called Kyriacou's family.
Kyriacou said that although their fast and strong friendship is perhaps an "odd case," they agreed that they were very lucky to have found each other.
"I literally didn't know you could make a friend this great," Clarke said.
