2026 Dating Trends: Chalance, Friendfluence, Voice Notes, and More

Girls Gotta Eat

Ashley Hesseltine and Rayna Greenberg

Society & Culture, Comedy

4.5 • 29.6K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2026

⏱️ 72 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What does dating look like in 2026? We are defining and breaking down six dating trends for the year – from "hot take dating" to "friendfluence" to "chalance" – and also discussing what romance looks like in the current landscape, how voice notes can vet potential dates, and more. Before we get into the topic, we're talking about what might be the best piece of dating advice out there, clarifying our anniversary, and sharing an incident where Ashley forgot she was married. Enjoy! Follow us on Instagram @girlsgottaeatpodcast, Ashley @ashhess, and Rayna @rayna.greenberg. Visit girlsgottaeat.com for more. Thank you to our partners this week: Hungry Root: Get 40% off your first box and free item in every box for life at https://hungryroot.com/GGE with code GGE. Skims: Get our favorite bras and underwear at https://skims.com/gge. Chime: Bank fee free by signing up at https://chime.com/girlsgottaeat. Nutrafol: Get $10 off your first order and free shipping at https://nutrafol.com with code GGE10. Hers: Get the support that actually reflects your needs. Start your free intake at http://forhers.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I am glad there's finally more content just about like pursuing women and just being kind to each other and like being romantic. I mean, that's what I'm looking for. A hundred percent. So what does romance look like in 2026? sex. This podcast is a dear media production.
0:30.3	Hi guys.
0:31.8	Welcome back to another episode of Girls Gotta Eat.
0:33.8	Welcome back.
0:34.9	Hope everyone had a great Valentine's weekend.
1:13.5	What do you think you did for Valentine's? So we will discuss it on this last week's snack. All right. Okay. I need to offer some clarity on our anniversary. Ours. Okay. Our podcast anniversary because I'm sure people were a little surprised last week that I got all twisted up because I'm a big date person and I'm a sentimental person. Here's what it is. And I have looked in this before, but I just forgot last week. The 13th is when we posted our very first episode. I knew it was before Valentine's Day. Let me finish. Because we had heard, you don't know how long it's going to take to get approved.
1:18.4	On Apple, to have your podcast be in the world, people were like, it could take up to 10 days. So as soon as it was ready and edited, it took me so long to finesse that first 40-minute episode.
1:26.0	We put it up.
1:27.4	We did not launch Girls Got to Eat till Monday first 40 minute episode. We put it up.
1:27.5	We did not launch Girls Gotta Eat till Monday, February 19.
1:31.7	So this is the first I'm hearing of this.
1:33.1	Okay.
1:34.3	So, eight years in.
1:37.6	February 13th, 2018 was a Tuesday.
1:40.3	No one knew about it.
1:42.2	I think we had a few people like listen to it, but like we did not tell
1:45.7	anybody about it. I think we were teasing it on our Instagram, but it launched on Monday, February
1:50.1	19th to the world. I remember being in an Uber on Sunday, February 18th, and I was like,
1:55.0	it's up if you want to listen now. I was all excited. I was on my way to some event. And so the
1:59.0	technical launch is February 19th, but the technical publication of the first episode was the 13th. So if you're more Raina's anniversary, you're the 13th. And if you're more Ashley's anniversary, you're the 19th. And if you guys are losing sleep about this, now you know. And I look forward to revisiting this next year and not knowing. No, she told me about this the other day.
2:17.8	And I was like, this is the first I'm hearing of this.
2:19.7	So I'm wearing the necklace today.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ashley Hesseltine and Rayna Greenberg, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ashley Hesseltine and Rayna Greenberg and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.