Nicky Wake, 55, who launched a dating app for widows after losing her husband to Covid, has found love with a fellow widower after just seven dates. She matched with Dan Smith, 52, in July 2025 on her own app, Widow's Fire, and the couple are now approaching their first anniversary together.
Creating a Platform for Widowed Singles
Nicky's husband Andy, 57, died from Covid in April 2020 after being placed in a care home in 2017 following a catastrophic brain injury. Six months after being widowed, she tried dating but struggled to find people who understood her experience. In November 2022, she launched Chapter 2, a dating app for widows, which now has 25,000 members.
However, Nicky found little success on her own platform because she was still in love with her late husband. So, in June 2023, she created Widow's Fire, an app designed for widows seeking casual hook-ups. The name refers to the sudden surge of sexual desire many experience after losing a spouse.
Meeting Dan Smith
In July 2025, Nicky connected with Dan Smith, 52, a widower whose wife had died five years earlier. Nicky, from Bury, said: "Dan's profile immediately caught my attention because he's a silver fox." They exchanged flirty messages while Nicky was on an Alaskan cruise and arranged to meet at a pub after her return.
"The chemistry was instant; we were holding hands after about 10 minutes, and after an hour we were kissing," Nicky recalled. "It was the best first date ever."
A Growing Relationship
After seven dates, the couple decided to become exclusive. Dan, from Saddleworth, said: "My wife died five years ago, we were together for 26 years. I'd tried dating before, but people didn't understand what it was like to be a widow. I liked the idea of the Widow's Fire app because you could have a physical relationship, without enormous emotional investment at the start."
He added: "Nicky and I have great communication, and we're very experimental. We're so close as a blended family and operate as a five." The couple have attended a festival together, enjoyed a weekend in Krakow, and are planning a blended family cruise from Venice to Barcelona. Nicky's son Finn, 18, gets along well with Dan's children, aged 16 and 14.
Future Plans
Nicky said: "After seven fiery dates, he said to me, 'This isn't Widow's Fire; this is Chapter 2.' We fell madly in love, and I wouldn't be disappointed if he got down on one knee. I fully anticipate that happening; I've been dropping hints."
The couple have no plans to live together while their children are still at home, but once the youngsters head to university, they intend to "grow old disgracefully" and move to Barbados.
