i know a guy who not only began dating while in the freezer, he also got married in while in the freezer.
Also, many people are only in Lakewood until they get married because they plan to go to Israel or some smaller kollel. Those people have nothing to lose and should date anyway.
And now my thoughts: There are several instances where we find that the halacha makes an exception for the marriage of a bachelor. For example a wedding on chal hamoed can’t take place unless the chosson was never married (without children). But some people in Lakewood, NJ decided that its not a big deal to prevent hundreds of bachelors from marring for several months! Pretty dangerous stuff. My rebbi zt’l in Israel was very much against it. There is even a great story about a conversation he had with R’ Malkiel about it.