Fancy dating Cara Delevingne or Kit Harington? Who doesn’t fancy dating Cara Delevingne or Kit Harington? Well, now you can – as long as they’re on Tinder.

The dating app has rolled out verified profiles, which means now you’ll know if “celebrity” profiles on the app are for real – instead of having to rely on whether or not the profile picture is a heavily pixellated crop from a website, complete with watermark still attached.

Tinder announced the move on its blog: “Now when notable public figures, celebrities and athletes appear in your recommendations, you’ll know it’s for real.”

Verified profiles for celebrities have long been in development, and were first mooted back in March 2014, when Tinder’s chief executive, Sean Rad, said: “This will allow celebrities to enter Tinder in a different way.”

The app’s chief marketing officer, Justin Mateen, added: “Tinder gives them [celebrities] the control to filter through the noise and communicate with people they want to know.”

Just discovered tinder. *Waves goodbye to life* — lily (@lilyallen) March 13, 2014

Back in May 2014, singer Ed Sheeran said he believed he was the first celebrity to be approached by Tinder for a verified profile.

“I got offered the first verified Tinder account. I did say no. I haven’t got time to go on loads of dates. I want to do this. Be on the radio and talk about music.

“It’s so people know it’s you I guess, but it just sounds quite creepy doing that because then you’re just using your celebrity status to hook up with chicks.”

Hillary Duff’s Tinder profile. Photograph: Screengrab

Celebrities already known or thought to be active on the app include: Katy Perry (“I’m really deep on Tinder”), Lindsay Lohan (or at least her brother), Ashton Kutcher, Lily Allen, Made in Chelsea cast members and Hillary Duff.

Actor and singer Duff spoke about her first ever Tinder date on Ryan Seacrest’s radio programme back in April:

“We went bowling so we didn’t have to talk too much, but we did talk a lot actually. He brought a friend and I had some friends there, so it helped.

“It kind of started out to be a joke with some of my girlfriends. I was like, ‘explain this whole thing to me because it’s kind of blowing my mind’. We were swiping and it started out to be kind of a joke and then I was like, ‘I’m gonna join Tinder’.”

“I’m just a Tinder animal. I had my Tinder training wheels on for my first date. Now it’s smooth sailing.”

Britney Spears was also signed up to the app when the singer appeared on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. The talk show host created a profile for Spears during a segment entitled ‘Pros and Cons of Dating Britney Spears’.

Tinder follow in the footsteps of Twitter and Facebook, who also offer verified accounts for well known people. Like me.

• Swipe right? Britney Spears joins Tinder dating app