Blind Date comes out the closet
And Fifer Mark is one of first gay contestants on popular TV show
TONIGHT a TV audience of millions will watch Mark McGuire from Fife appear on Blind Date.
The 29-year-old will be perched on one of the show’s famous high stools, hoping his dazzling chat and perfectly ironed shirt will snag him a romantic night out... with another man.
This week, everyone on the show is male – the first time in its 33-year history that Blind Date has gone LGBT.
When Mark, who was raised in Ballingry but now lives in London, applied, it didn’t occur to him that he would be making TV history. Growing up in Fife, he had no idea that he would be one of the first gay men on his favourite show.
He explained: “Of course I spent Saturday nights with Cilla, I think everyone did.
“Being on the first ever gay show is amazing. I hadn’t thought about it until I was there filming it.”
In the run-up to filming, Mark was a bag of nerves. He said: “I thought I was a calm person until I did this.
“I was really nervous about being on TV, how am I going to look, what am I going to wear, all that sort of thing.”
His biggest fear was the studio audience. “Everyone’s eyes were on me,” he said. But he managed to hold his own, including having some cheeky chat with host Paul O’Grady.
When Paul asked Mark who he was looking for, the Fifer replied: “Is it bigheaded to say someone like yourself?”
This went down well with former drag queen Paul, who said: “Are you joking?
“Well, you know I’ve got nothing on tonight. I’m free.”
Mark said all his family in Ballingry will be watching, including his grandmother.
He is staying tight-lipped about what happens.
Does Mark find romance? All he will say is: “I’m approaching 30. I think I’m ready for that.”