Because rather than demanding nude pictures or racy messages, the deal is for Ben’s virtual girlfriend to send him the more vanilla and mundane communications – the type that you settle into in a longer term relationship.

“In the morning I could get a Snapchat selfie with ‘good morning baby’ written on it, later in the day she might message me on Kik (a messaging app) about how her day at work has been. It’s not crazy stuff,” he told The Independent.

“If she’s come down with strep (a throat condition) I’ll know about it, if she’s got a headache she tells me, and if she’s out partying I get Snapchats that no-one else sees.

“There’s never really any hot stuff … for most of the time it’s the sort of thing you’d find in any regular relationship.”