A woman claims to have been kicked off Tinder for uploading photos of herself dressed as a clown.
Jess Harkin, 25, from County Donegal, Ireland, recently decided to reset her Tinder and replace her existing pictures with ones of her alter-ego, Kazoo the Clown.
She wanted to show off her comedic side and find a date with a decent sense of humour, sharing six photos of herself dressed in her trademark clown costume, gloves, hat, fake nose and face paint.
“I heard you were ‘just looking for fun?’ Well pal, the party has arrived!! Where can I set down this birthday cake and chocolate milk?,” her bio read.
Within days, Jess received a flood of messages from men, many of whom enjoyed her lighthearted approach to dating, with her even sharing some of the best conversations on her TikTok (@jessicamagician).
Unfortunately however, after three months on the site, Jess claims her profile was banned for “activity that violates our Terms of Use” – which she believes is down to her clown photos.
“I’ve seen girls with more make-up than this on,” Jess told Jam Press.
“Even if you are you, you can still get banned.
“I decided it would be funny to make a mini series of videos where I changed all of my pictures on Tinder to pictures of Kazoo.
“I even took the verification pictures in full make-up.
“It was going well, people were enjoying the videos, people were having a laugh on Tinder about it and then they banned my account.
“How am I going to find a clown man now?”
Jess appealed the decision and claims Tinder at first refused to reopen her account, leaving her hopes of finding romance dashed.
Social media users were quick to slam the decision.
One TikTok user said: “I was hoping it was over because you had found true love.”
A second commented: “Justice for Kazoo!”
“This is anti-clown discrimination”, said a third.
Someone else added: “HOW do you get a tinder account banned?! is it cuz you were clowning around? [sic].”
A fifth social media user said: “Y’know it sounds to me like @tinder are the real clowns here lol.”
However, last Friday (18 February), after months of waiting, the dating app finally reinstated her account.
Jess decided on her choice of career aged three, when she saw her first clown at a circus.
She wanted to dress up and perform tricks to make people laugh but was sadly put off from embracing her alter ego when younger, as cruel classmates would bully her.
The 25-year-old said: “I was a very, very shy kid.
“Because I was so unconfident, I had this character I could hide behind.”
The summer before she started secondary school, Jess – who is now also a magician – began learning how to perform magic tricks.
She began learning her craft by watching videos on YouTube and reading books about magic throughout her teenage years, using them as a tool to approach people and start a conversation.
Aged 17, she dropped out of college and set her sights on joining the circus.
Jess said: “I was determined to make it.
“I went to every circus that came through town. I’d go in my full costume and hand in a CV to the ringmaster at the end of the show.
“I was accepted the same week I started college.
“For a while I was juggling between the two but it got to a point where it was nine hours of travel.
“I’d get home at almost 2am and have to get up in time for the 7am bus the next morning.
“It wasn’t sustainable and I had to choose between college and the circus and I just couldn’t give up the circus.
“I chose the name Kazoo the Clown because kazoos are annoying and no-one likes them.”
Jess now works full-time as Kazoo and started introducing her character to TikTok during the pandemic.
She even wears her brightly-coloured clothes, painted face and signature red nose on public transport, and says she isn’t phased by the opinion of others.
Jess added: “My family and friends are all super supportive!
“My friends are no longer phased about hanging out with me if I see them on the way back from gigs, they forget why people are staring, it’s lovely.”
Following her own experience when younger, Jess also uses her performances at parties to encourage shy children to build their confidence by getting involved in magic tricks.
Kazoo has also helped her manage her own anxiety.
She added: “Every time I do a party, I try to find the shy kid to get them up for a trick.
“I’m much more confident now and I love to make people happy.
“I can perform on stage in front of an audience. It’s changed who I am now.”
Jam Press approached Tinder for comment who said the profile was removed due to the account being used for promotional reasons.
A Tinder spokesman said: “Our community guidelines state that we may remove accounts used for promotional purposes; however, we want our platform to be a place where our members can share what they’re passionate about with matches.”
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