Nicholas Hoult has lowered his expectations of women.

Nicholas Hoult

Nicholas Hoult

The 26-year-old actor - who dated Jennifer Lawrence on and off for three years until 2014 - has admitted he's been forced to lower the bar when it comes to picking females to take out on dates out of fear he'll end up alone for the rest of his life.

He said: "Maybe my expectations have lowered a little bit ... The first time you fall in love you're so mental that it's difficult to recall anything. I think you just grow up and become more aware of yourself and other people and that changes it."

But, although he's spent many years striving for perfection when it comes to women, he does believe there's someone out there for everyone and his "soulmate" is waiting for him.

Speaking to 'Entertainment Tonight', he explained: "I believe completely. I don't think anyone can change the way they feel or should have to, depending on what they feel."

However, for now, Nicholas - who has been romantically linked to Dianna Agron and Riley Keough in the past - has turned to the dating app Raya, which is used by a number of celebrities, to increase his chances of finding love.

Meanwhile, he may have had to lower his expectations of women to secure a date but he recently admitted his parents have brought him up to have a "realistic" view on marriage.

He said recently: "They [my parents] support each other and care about each other. They also haven't brought us [me and my siblings] up in a household where we're delusional, thinking it's easy the whole time. We have pretty realistic expectations of how it [married life] works."