I’m with Olivia Rodrigo: a man who dreams of space travel is a major red flag

The ‘Vampire’ singer recently revealed she doesn’t date men who want to fly to outer space. With stargazing billionaires like Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos setting a low bar for romance, Olivia Petter explains why this will now be first thing she asks her next date

Few pursuits come with the uncertainty of going to space. Regardless of your planning capabilities, chances are you don’t know what you’ll find, where you’ll go, or how your body will respond to life in zero gravity. Heck, you don’t even know if you’ll survive the thing.

Thank goodness, then, that there is finally something concrete that those wanting to explore the cosmos can cling on to: Olivia Rodrigo will never date you.

The singer revealed her interstellar ick in an interview with Netflix as part of her new GUTS World Tour documentary.

Speaking to the camera, the 21-year-old was asked to reveal her turnoffs in dating. “The biggest red flag: okay, this is a very oddly specific question that I ask guys on first dates,” she began. “I always ask them if they would want to go to space. And if they say ‘yes,’ I don’t date them.”

The “Vampire” singer continued: “I just think if you want to go to space, you’re a little too full of yourself.”

The remark – as innocuous as it may seem – has captivated the internet, with many single, straight women agreeing with Rodrigo. “Olivia Rodrigo was really onto something when she said her first date question was about whether or not they want to go to space,” one person wrote on X. “Space attracts people who want to conquer s*** and can’t on earth because there’s nowhere left to colonise.”

Another said: “Like if a girl wanted to go to space I’d be like slay girlboss but if a guy wanted to go to space I’d be like why? Haven’t you done enough?” Even Grimes, the Canadian singer-songwriter who shares three children with her ex, SpaceX founder Elon Musk, chimed in, writing on X: “It’s true. Only women should be going to space.”

I agree completely.

It’s not wanting to go to space if you’re a genuine astronomer, or like, I don’t know, an astronaut, that I take issue with. But if you’re average Joe, 32, on Hinge who tells me his goal is to travel to the moon, or Mars, or literally anywhere outside of Earth, I’m out of there faster than you can say “Uranus”.

As Rodrigo astutely said, it’s an indication of audacious arrogance. The kind that breeds superiority – “I’m too good for what’s going on down here”, “I can defy the dangerous odds”, “I’m smart and rich enough to do it” – and fosters a dangerous, and deeply unattractive, hubris.

It’s a way of moving through the world that is likely to breed other insidious traits that can fare badly in relationships, too, and says a lot about a person’s priorities. After all, why would anyone actually want to go to space, other than to tell people they’ve done it?

Sure, you might get some pretty epic selfies and I’m sure it’s really fun to bounce around in a spacesuit. But, beyond that, shouldn’t you be occupied with other things? Like, I don’t know, working and earning a living? Or spending time with friends and family? Or enjoying normal hobbies? Pottery is probably a lot cheaper than flying to the moon.

It doesn’t help, of course, that two of the most well-known proponents of space travel are Musk and Jeff Bezos, two of the richest men in the world, who aren’t exactly renowned for being the best romantic partners. Wanting to emulate the passions and pursuits of billionaires isn’t exactly the biggest turn-on, either.

In short, I am fully with Rodrigo on this one, and I too can take comfort in the certainty space missions don’t provide, because all my next first dates will now start the exact same way.