WHO’LL FIND LOVE ON OUR BLIND DATE

Every week, we send a couple out for dinner and report back on their blind date, with a little advice thrown in to help the rest of us. This week we sent Jesse Jones and Catherine Wright to Thali, in South Kensington, London.

Catherine, 37, lives in Shepperton, and has two children, four and 11. She works as an adviser in a large company and is looking for someone tall, dark and handsome.

Jesse, 31, lives in North London and works in property. He has never been married and is open to meeting an interesting woman.

Catherine says:

I’ve been single for two years now following a couple of long-term relationships and have tried internet dating.

I found it horrendous because it was so hard to cut through the online conversations to find someone genuine.

I’m a huge believer in romance and chivalry, and so I found it really soulless.

I like to get that buzz from talking to someone and I like people who can give as good chat as me!

Most of my previous relationships have been with older men, and so I am determined to go younger — although often it can be hard to find someone with a mature head on their shoulders.

I have to admit it was completely nerveracking going on this date because I knew nothing about him, but then I realised I just had to focus on going out and having a nice evening and I relaxed.

When Jesse came in, he was a bit panicked at being a few minutes late, but it wasn’t a problem.

Although looks-wise he wouldn’t normally be the kind of guy I’d go for, I thought he was really attractive.

There was definitely something about him — a chemistry that I liked.

From the moment we sat down, we didn’t stop talking until I ran for my taxi at the end of the night. you couldn’t have an awkward silence with Jesse and I told him he could talk the hind legs off a donkey!

We both had a lot to talk about, even though we have very different lives.

He is very social and spends a lot of time going out, and I’m a mum with two kids.

I think to be in his life would be quite busy. But he didn’t seem to mind talking about my children and even remembered their names, which was refreshing. I appreciated that. We had a few common interests like music, and we are on the same wavelength politically. We are both close to our families — which is great, so we talked about them a lot. Jesse’s a really interesting guy, and has seen a lot of the world and has a grown-up head on his shoulders.

The restaurant food was lovely. We had a shared platter to start, which was fun, and the staff were really excellent. Although I’m not sure spicy curry was the best option for a first date!

I could have stayed much longer but had to rush to get back to my babysitter, and it felt as if the date ended too quickly.

We didn’t even get a chance to exchange numbers and when my taxi came I just gave him a kiss on the cheek and ran!

But I would definitely go out with him again. He’s fun and interesting. If anything it made me realise how blind dates can be better than the internet and I’d encourage anyone to do it. The worst that can happen is you don’t fancy each other. But there was something there with Jesse and I’d like to see him again. LIKE: really good to talk to. REGRETS: None. CAB/COFFEE: Coffee. VERDICT: 8/10

Jesse says:

I FIND all sorts of women attractive, and look for someone I respect, find interesting, can hold their own in a conversation and, ideally, someone who inspires me. I am attracted to more than looks. I’ve had a few long-term relationships and I would like to settle down, but won’t compromise on a relationship, so I am in absolutely no rush unless it’s with the right person.

I don’t believe there is such a thing as a ‘perfect’ partner or relationship but I do believe you have to really love somebody to make a relationship work.

I can be fairly quick to judge; if I can see the end of the relationship at the beginning I would rather be single than in a relationship for the sake of it.

But I’ve never had a bad date, even if there is absolutely no chemistry. I honestly can’t understand how people can have awkward silences when you both have whole lives to talk about!

When I first saw Catherine, I could tell she is a really sweet girl. She’s gorgeous and has the most amazing figure.

But like me, she can talk, and we didn’t stop. There was a great buzz between us. We had a few things in common, but I feel we didn’t get enough time to really get to know each other.

I found her story fascinating, and especially her account of singe-parenting, really inspirational. The fact she has children doesn’t bother me and I was happy to hear her talk about them.

We talked about the poignant moments in our lives, good and bad, and covered a lot of topics but mostly we also laughed a lot.

I definitely thought there was a bit of a spark.

She’s a lovely person, and funny but I didn’t feel I got to know her as well as I would have liked.

The restaurant was lovely but it wasn’t really conducive to an intimate date.

We could have done with more time but I had to get up early the next day and she had to get back to her children so the night ended too early.

I’d love to see her again, as she’s really interesting and we got on really well.

Her taxi came so fast we didn’t even get a chance to swap numbers and it was really rushed at the end. But I’d love to hang out with her again and find out more about her.

LIKE: There was lots to like about her. She’s really bubbly and interesting.

REGRETS: None — only that it didn’t go on longer.

CAB/ COFFEE: Coffee. VERDICT: 8/10 (really high for me)

There was definitely a spark – I’d see him again

The fact she has kids doesn’t put me off