Dating Site Ditches 30K Ugly Members

Imagine the reaction as founders of dating site BeautifulPeople.com watched 30,000 “ugly people” get accepted to their site over a six-week period—thanks to a computer virus, reports the Guardian. The wrongfully admitted have since been rejected en masse, says the managing director, at the not-so-attractive price of $100,000. Believed to have been planted by a disgruntled former employee, the virus was aptly named "Shrek" and disabled the part of the site that allows members of BeautifulPeople.com to vote on would-be members. The new members “were no oil painting,” says the director, saying “We can't just sweep 30,000 ugly people under the carpet."

One of them was a 31-year-old from Los Angeles who was rejected just after she hit it off with a guy. She plans to reapply after a makeover and professional photo shoot. “If that doesn’t work I’ll see what I can do with PhotoShop,” she says. “What if he’s the one? This is the only way I’ll be able to get in touch with him.” (More BeautifulPeople.com stories.)