If only someone had told Shane Lynch before he went looking for romance on the Love Island.
It looks like the love-hungry ex-Boyzone singer poured cold water on his chances of getting hot 'n' steamy before he even left for Fiji, thanks to an over-large bit of his physique.
And it's not just Shane - even Love Island host Fearne Cotton has gone and made the same slip-up.
They've both got what an overwhelming majority of people seeking romance rate as the one thing most guaranteed to turn them off: a TATTOO.
Singletons signing up to the Dating pages of website Friends Reunited are asked to provide basic information about themselves such as eye-colour and build to give potential partners an idea of who they are.
Amazingly, 97 per cent of the half-a-million members took the trouble to express their dislike for body decoration.
The almost universal loathing for tattoos certainly explains why the king of them himself - Robbie Williams - always ends up so unlucky in love. It's because of the look on a girl's face when he offers the chance to see his etchings.
The news means that Friends Reunited could, at last, have found the only flaw in David Beckham's otherwise god-like appeal among women. It's a good job he's already a happily married man, given his confessed addiction to tattoos.
Friends Reunited Head of Romance Rhoda Moore said the information should be used as vital intelligence for those fighting the war on loneliness.
"Tattoos might look clever and a bit artistic in the kind of world that footballers, pop singers and other celebrities move in, but genuine love-seekers should beware of copying them.
"When it comes to what everyday people find sexy and attractive, the evidence is that revealing a tattoo on your next date could well have the opposite consequence to the one you intended.
"Two thirds of members head out on dates within the first two weeks of logging on, so when almost all our members say they don't like tattoos it is the kind of advice that could make all the difference to the success of your next date."
Pirates of the Caribbean star Johnny Depp provides a good example of how the pain involved in having a tattoo put on can all be for nothing.
It's rumoured that he once thought it'd be a good idea to have a tattoo dedicated to his then girlfriend Winona Ryder. Apparently she never really liked it, and after their painful break-up Johnny's agony was doubled because he had to have the tattoo removed. In the end he had to settle for changing "Winona Forever" to "Wino Forever".
Rhoda Moore says, "It might be cool to go on a date wearing your heart on your sleeve but it's quite another thing to go wearing one under your sleeve."
Head of Romance Rhoda Moore's pick of the top celebrities who got tattooed only to find their love lives looking a bit tatty instead:
For more information contact Carolynne Bull-Edwards or Victoria Reed on: 01883 717468 / 07932 723866 or email press@friendsreunited.co.uk
Friends Reunited Dating launched in 2003 and is the UK's 5th largest dating site.The site has over 650,000 dating members with around 1,000 new members, aged 18 to 80, joining the service every day - real people looking for genuine relationships.
It is free to register, anonymous, confidential, and comes at a fraction of the price of most other sites.