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was bonkers. Fan sites were set up for me on Facebook – it was just mad.”

Semi-professional rugby player Tom, 28, from South Wales, admits he was dubious about going on the show as he’d seldom talked about his conditions – but he’s glad he did. “Suddenly everyone in Bridgend was coming up to me and saying they understood why I’d been the way I’d been,” he says. “People from school just thought I was naughty or aggressive and didn’t realise.”

Whirlwind

Two years and countless dates later, Tom admits that he has come to terms with his condition and is more than willing to talk and be an ambassador for it. And, hopefully, have more luck finding a girlfriend.

“Going back on the show is a chance to show how much I’ve grown in the last two years and how the show changed my life,” he explains. “It’s been a whirlwind but I feel like it’s helped me to accept myself, who I am, and I’ve matured a lot. It’s great that people are still interested.

“I used to be embarrassed and sceptical over telling people about my condition. I hid it from everyone and they did not understand why I had all this pent-up anger. But now I am completely open about it it’s changed everything.”

On tonight’s show we see Tom go on a date – crazy golf followed by drinks – with a carer from Cardiff called Jess.

“I’ve been on so many dates and now I always tell them straight away what I’m like,” he reveals. “I put my cards on the table. I still have bad days, I can be grumpy and have bad mood swings. Luckily, I know how to handle it now and there are more good days than bad. People will see the real me now, that I am fun and mischievous.”

While we won’t reveal how Tom and Jess’s date goes, he does tell how he had his heart broken last year by a girl he fell head over heels for, before he found out she was secretly dating someone else behind his back.

“It was brutal,” he admits. “But I do have a fear of opening up to someone and them leaving me.”

He does have his eye on someone in the public eye, though – I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here winner Georgia “Toff” Toffolo is his “dream girl”. “She seemed like she would be kind and fun to be around,” he says. “But I would never ever be brave enough to message her.”

And Tom is becoming a celebrity in his own right, thanks to modelling for Jacamo. He says: “I feel like a film star when I go to their photoshoots – they are so glamorous. We have a right laugh and I can’t believe I’m posing for the camera.”

And Tom admits he is more prepared for the furore that follows the show, even if he is still unhappy about the programme’s negative title.

“I feel like calling us undateable does downgrade our conditions but I realise that it is just a name,” he says. “I still love the show and what it’s about and that they are genuinely trying to help and raise awareness.

“I used to feel bad about myself but now I’m proud of what I’ve come through and how I can help break down barriers for other people.” ¬Ê

Watch The Undateables tonight at 9pm on Channel 4.