Would you go on a f irst date with millions watching?
It’s the heartwarming, cringe-making TV show that has a huge following, and what’s more there’s an Irish version in the pipeline...
THERE are few experiences more nerve - racking than a blind date. It can be the tr i gger f or a new r omance — or t he most excruciating evening of your life.
Now the hope and heartbreak are being captured on a reality TV show, Channel 4’s First Dates, that’s become an unexpected hit. Set in a swish real London restaurant, each episode focuses on five pairs of singletons — from lonely 80-yearolds to lovelorn estate agents — trying to find that elusive ‘spark’.
The couples, who are complete strangers and know nothing about each other, share a meal as cameras document every word and expression. After the date, each person is interviewed to reveal their real thoughts about their partner.
After a slow start, the programme, now in its fourth series, is booming in popularity and the Gogglebox-meetsBlind Date f ormat has j ust been snapped up by Irish company Coco Television. TANITH CAREY looks for the secret of its success.
CAMERAS IN THE LOOS
THE name of the restaurant is hidden from TV viewers by a large red heart but it is Paternoster Chop House, near St Paul’s Cathedral. The TV crew commandeers the premises on a number of weekends and fills it with single diners.
The open-plan dining area is rigged with 40 grapefruit- sized cameras, strategically placed to zoom in on awkwardness or affection.
There are also cameras in the loos to capture more candid appraisals as daters phone friends to update them on the evening’s progress.
At the end of the meal, diners pay their own bills — often more than €140 — although the production team offers €35 towards it. Executive producer Nicola Lloyd says: ‘We give couples a contribution, but we want the tricky moment when the bill arrives to be real.’
HOW MATCHES ARE MADE
FROM octogenarians to virgins and the terminally single, the show gives a voyeuristic peek into the love lives of a huge cross-section of people. And unlike the usual fame-hungry reality TV contestants, it’s the vulnerability and normality of daters that’s proved such a draw.
The slightest hint of chemistry and you find yourself rooting for them. And, naturally, the car-crash dates are even more enthralling.
For the latest series, programme makers received 1,500 applications in just 48 hours. They now have a database of 40,000 lonely hearts to choose from.
Couples are meticulously matched by a large team of researchers based on a study of their likes, dislikes, backgrounds and physical similarities.
Part of the reason viewers have taken to the show, says Nicola Lloyd, is that some see it as a return to a more traditional type of dating: ‘It’s the antithesis of dating apps like Tinder, which are all based on pictures and appearance.
‘Our daters can’t google, text or do any online research before they meet because they don’t even know each other’s names.’
DUTCH COURAGE!
BEARDED writer Louis, 21, and 23-yearold barmaid Amber clearly never wanted to set eyes on each other again.
After ordering countless Jagerbomb cocktails — a lethal mix of caffeine-rich energy drinks and the German spirit Jagermeister — to calm his nerves, Louis made fun of his date’s spiritual beliefs, tried to knock down the €200 bill, then got out his phone to work out her share. They were barely talking by the time they reached the taxi rank — and headed for separate cabs.
Amber’s parting remark was ‘Good luck with life, friend’ — in a tone which heavily implied that he would need it.
PASSION KILLERS
MAKE-UP artist Verona, 27, and handsome fireman Paul fared no better. After hitting it off at the bar, their date nosedived when Verona mentioned she had two children.
Paul replied in no uncertain terms that he wasn’t interested in dating a woman who was already a mother, as the cameras zoomed in on her crestfallen face. But perhaps the most embarrassing silence in the current series came when student Ben told his date Chloe that his love of appearing in musical theatre had developed into a love of cross-dressing.
After a long pause, Chloe, 23, a university student, said: ‘You just told me you dress like a lady. It’s a bit of an odd thing to say when you’re on a date with a girl.’
Equally cringe-worthy was the meeting between Richard, 20, another student, and Freya (top right), a musical theatre enthusiast.
‘I’ve never been in a relationship,’ he announced. ‘One thing you may find interesting is that I identify as asexual. Dating is strange and quite alienating for me.’
Warming to his theme, Richard went on to say: ‘I identify as hetero-romantic asexual — being asexual means I don’t experience sexual attraction to anyone of any gender. I do experience romantic attraction.’
Rather optimistically, Freya summed up the date as: ‘We had a lot in common. He wasn’t gay. Result.’
MOST TOE-CURLING CHAT-UP LINES
‘IS YOUR name Google? Because I’ve been searching for you all my life.’
AJ, 23, to stylist Mula, 22. ‘You remind me of my parking ticket… because y ou’ve got t he word “fine” written all over you.’
Twice-married Mo, 32, to Chloe, a 32-year-old marketing manager.
‘IT’S important to have sex, somewhere crazy, I think, like around the back of Homebase.’
Primary school teacher Charlie, 25, to hospital caterer, Frankie, 22, who was less than impressed.
‘IS YOUR name Jacobs? ‘Cos you’re a cracker.’ Josh, 21, a supermarket worker, to Soraya, a healthcare assistant.
THE SWEETEST AND SOPPIEST COUPLE
BEYOND the corny flowers that some suitors turn up with, there are some genuine flashes of romance. It looked like love at first sight when political lobbyist Dean, 29, laid eyes on 24-year-old flame-haired estate agent Kate.
Having decided he would no longer restrict himself to dating Asian girls to please his Indian family, he admitted he’d always wanted to date a redhead — and looked stunned to find the woman of his dreams at the bar.
Before the date, Kate confided that she was once voted ugliest person in her class at secondary school.
In sweetly affectionate scenes, Kate and Dean giggled infectiously throughout the meal, made eyes at each other and offered each other chocolatecovered strawberries to lick.
Afterwards, Dean admitted: ‘ The first thought I had was that I was lost for words as she was just stunning. Then it was about trying to compose (myself) afterwards.’
In the post- date analysis, Dean declared to the camera that he would ‘make no bones’ that he would like to see Kate again. When she immedi- ately agreed, saying she liked his sense of humour and long eyelashes, he punched the air in triumph before they wandered off into the night, arm in arm.
THE REAL STAR OF THE SHOW
CHARISMATIC maitre d’ Fred Sirieix, (right), who was brought in for the third series, is the lynchpin of the show. With his salt-and-pepper beard, crys- tal-blue eyes and array of sharp suits, he not only welcomes guests into the restaurant at the front desk, but also offers philosophical observations about relationships, which have gained him 16,000 followers on Twitter.
For his day job, Fred is general manager at the Michelin- starred restaurant Galvin at Windows, on the 28th floor of the Hilton on Park Lane in London.
Born and brought up in a close-knit family in Limoges, central France, Fred’s father, whom he cites as his role model, was a nurse.
Originally, when Fred attended catering college in nearby Souillac, he trained as a chef, but eventually realised his people skills suited him better to working with customers.
A committed Anglophile since moving to the UK aged 20, he says: ‘The moment I set f oot i n Dover, I remember feeling so at home, as if I had arrived.’
He has two children — Andrea, 12, and Matteo-Lucien, six — with his partner Alex and cycles to work from his home in Peckham, South-East London.
According to Fred, good service is a fine art. Among his rules are that when diners enter, they should be smiled at by five different members of staff before they are seated at their tables.
He was attracted to the series because of its sensitivity towards the daters: ‘It’s not there to catch people out and make them look bad. I wouldn’t have done it otherwise.’
FRENCH FRED’S PHILOSOPHY OF LOVE
‘THERE is only one happiness in this life: to love and be loved.’ ‘WHAT do women want? This is one of the big questions. They want men to listen to them. This is one of the things that is universally known.’ ‘NO MAN is an island. No matter what people think about themselves, how strong they are, how tough they are, everybody needs someone to cuddle with, or to give them that little bit of love.’
ANY FAIRY-TALE ENDINGS?
SO FAR there have been no First Dates weddings, but programme makers believe it can’t be far off as they continue to hone their matchmaking skills. In series three, half of the first dates resulted in second dates — and in the current series that rose to 70 per cent.
FIRST Dates is on Thursdays at 10pm on Channel 4.