This post was originally written for The Fluffy Chicken, but alas the Chicken is slow to hatch so here you go you lucky, gorgeous blog readers!

Four hob dating is a relatively new style of dating for the UK single girl. Despite it’s name suggesting otherwise this has nothing to do with kitchens, kitchen appliances, Delia, Nigella or Jamie, so relax. The Four Hob Dating theory exploded into my life last year after a string of girlfriends sat dejected by their latest dudes. ‘How can we keep our hearts intact but still date?’ one of them cried. ‘We should date like Americans do’, someone said. ‘We should Four Hob date!’

The rules of Four Hob dating are simple, to enable the fun, the excitement, the thrills of dating but none of the heartbreak, UNTIL YOU MEET THE ONE, you do not commit to any one guy. Instead you constantly and consistently have four men in your life. Now Four may seem a bit greedy, ( and not to mention slutty) but it is a theory that works well when you delve a little deeper. Let me explain…

On a typical gas or electric cooker you have four hob spaces to cook on, One big, two medium and one small. The 2012 single girl should date according to this rule. Still confused and reaching for a zester? Let me simplify it further. The four hobs are your dating spaces and the pots on top of them are the men in your life. You keep a maximum of four guys in your life at any one time, ensuring that until you have made a full commitment to ‘The One’ you keep your options open.  The big hob, resembles the main guy you are dating, this is the guy you focus on mostly, keeping him at a simmering boil. But until this guy has made a full commitment to you, you keep your options open…..and a few more ‘pots’ of varying sizes bubbling away! Follow these easy steps to gain the most from dating in 2012…

1) ALWAYS have four pots boiling away.

2) Keep mild flirtation open and perhaps go on a few dates with your ‘medium pots’. Again these pots should be kept bubbling away, ensuring they keep your interest.

3) Feel free to move your pots around, depending on where your fun is at!

4) The smallest hob is the place for someone you have a vague notion to get to know better. The smallest hob can take months to build up to a medium hob place, or perhaps fizzle out and be replaced. There’s always something shiny in the distance!

5) Don’t get it wrong and be a slut. Stare at a picture of Audrey Hepburn everyday to remind you of the grace and beauty of your inner female.

6) When settled with Mr Right remove all other pots from the hob.

Four Hob Dating is popular in the US where the phase ‘Well, We weren’t exclusive’ is often said when a girl founds herself caught on a date with another guy. In the grander scheme of things, if a guy really likes you, and we mean story book likes you, he won’t mind you so much that you are dating three other guys, he’ll want to be the main one and will make sure he is constantly on the main hob in your life! While I am not advocating a life of ‘keeping him on his toes’, you HAVE to know that he’ll put himself out for you to know he’s ‘The One’. (watch The Notebook and do not settle for less).

Would you/Could you Four Hob date? Are we British too old fashioned when it comes to dating? I personally couldn’t do it, I cook on one of those single gas camping cookers, one pot at a time, but let me know your thoughts and mostly Good Luck girls!

Mwah mwah x