Celebrity dating app Raya's clients are a deadly secret kept by the elites. But I managed to infiltrate it... and you'll never guess which A-listers popped up
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I hadn't expected to strike gold so swiftly. There on my phone was a picture of one of the world's best-known and best-looking comic actors – Owen Wilson, no less – blond hair gleaming, cheeky smile just as appealing as it is on any film poster. Did I want to date him? Well, I'd have to relocate to the US, ditch my children and outsource my cats . . . but yes, yes I jolly well did. I clicked 'like' and carried on flicking through the Michelin-starred array of men being paraded in front of me.
![[There on my phone was a picture of one of the world's best-known and best-looking comic actors – Owen Wilson , no less]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/13/10/94030983-14277945-_There_on_my_phone_was_a_picture_of_one_of_the_world_s_best_know-a-9_1736764003271.jpg)
This might sound like a fever dream, but it's the day-to-day reality of being a member of Raya, the so-called 'celebrity dating app' and the one on which David Harbour – Stranger Things actor and the husband of Lily Allen – has reportedly been running a secret profile.
![[At one point it was rumoured that Brad Pitt was on the app, though it was never proved]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/13/10/94031049-14277945-image-a-17_1736762775997.jpg)
However, I'm afraid that, for me, the Raya experience has been one of initial euphoria followed by intense disillusionment. After my ex-husband and I separated four years ago, I was excited to be on the verge of a new dating life. We hadn't slept in the same room for two years, never mind enjoyed exciting sex.
![[Those reported to have used it include actors Ben Affleck (pictured), Paul Mescal, Chris Rock and singer John Mayer]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/13/10/94030967-14277945-_Those_reported_to_have_used_it_include_actors_Ben_Affleck_pictu-a-10_1736764003271.jpg)
I was in my mid-40s, solvent and with a reasonably glamorous job in PR, commuting between the Cotswolds and London. If I had to do so, I'd give myself a seven or eight out of ten. Highly datable, I thought to myself smugly, and the first place I intended to land was Raya, the sunlit grass-is-greener uplands of every middle-class divorcee.
Those reported to have used it include singer John Mayer and actors Ben Affleck, Paul Mescal, Chris Rock and, of course, Owen Wilson (three of this gorgeous bunch eventually appeared on my feed). Friends of mine, giggling over spritzers in the local members' club, insisted that I 'had' to join.
