An Australian couple have discovered their personalised number plates might have been sending mixed messages (Picture: Channel Ten)
An Australian couple trying to promote their business were shocked to discover their ‘Grindr’ number plates weren’t as innocent as they thought.
This week Chris and Steve Herbing appeared on panel show The Project to speak about the mix-up, and the story was as hilarious as you’d expect.
As Chris explained, nearly 15 years ago she had gifted her husband the custom number plates labelled ‘Grindr’ due to his engineering business offering precision grinder services.
However, it was only recently they were alerted to the fact the plates could have been giving off a very different message.
The couple were understandably quite shocked to discover their plates were also the name of a gay dating app that launched in 2009.
Recalling what happened on live TV, the couple said it was a friend who flagged the potential problem.
‘We were driving down Hoddle Street [in Melbourne] one afternoon when a friend of mine whose a line dancer, and who’s gay and gorgeous … Stephen Patterson…[is his name] and single pulled up alongside us,’ Chris recounted, as the hosts jokingly asked if she was looking at setting her friend up.
She continued: ‘He’s beeping at the horn and carrying on. Then he starts ringing me and goes “Your number plate!”.’
After her friend explained the situation, Steve admitted his first reaction was ‘Well, we thought of it first.’
The couple have been driving around with these ‘Grindr’ plates for 15 years (Picture: Channel Ten)
Which is a fair reaction considering their plates were created and installed the year before the app hit the market.
While Chris said that spelling was the only one they could get at the time, they did recently chose to give the plate up after moving interstate.
Reflecting on their time owning some of the most interesting personalised plates around, the couple did say they had often been struck by how many people used to stop and take photos, a phenomenon they didn’t wrap their heads around until recently.
When stopped at traffic lights, Steve said he was often snapped by passers-by and even blown a few kisses by other men at times.
The Project airs on Channel Ten in Australia.
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‘Well, we thought of it first!’