Watching Channel 4’s First Dates is a weekly ritual for my flat, it makes us squirm in our seats for the tongue-tied daters and cringe at the awkward conversations, but we never miss an episode. This week’s episode was a ‘celebrity special’ in aid of Stand Up To Cancer; bear in mind the word celebrity must be taken with a pinch of salt. We saw Alexandra Burke, Jamie Laing, Jorgie Porter and Anthea Turner sitting in the infamous First Dates restaurant. While the dates were a little less awkward than usual, it still had everyone’s favourite maître d’ Fred. He started the show with his usual quote about love, which we still aren’t sure if he is trying to pass off as his own…
“It is better to have loved and lost…than never loved at all…”
Alexandra Burke, winner of the X-Factor 2008, was paired with male model Louis. They hit it off discussing their star signs, to which he drops the line ‘I’m a proper Leo as well though…’ After they are seated, she delicately places her Birken bag by her side and she and her date discuss how celebrities are ‘normal people too…’ But how many daters of this show can say they have had their own song played in the background?
Jamie Laing from Made In Chelsea put his foot in his mouth by telling the camera he is ‘pretty confident I’m going to nail this date.’ His usual cheeky demeanor waivers when he meets his match in Swiss-born, former ballerina Sophie. She’s an experimental neuroscience research student who doesn’t watch Made in Chelsea and has no time for Jamie’s attempts to woo her. However, there’s no denying that her interest in him peaked after he was recognized by a fellow diner…coincidence?
While Jamie was infatuated and possibly slightly scared of his date, Jorgie Porter’s, Theresa McQueen from Hollyoaks, was a success. She giggled and charmed her way through dinner with personal trainer Craig. Remarking her ‘leather pants keep squeaking’ and coyly describing herself as a tomboy who ‘doesn’t really wear make up…’ while batting her false eyelashes! She talks about the trust issues she has when it comes to men, as did ‘Broadcasting bombshell and two-time divorcee’ Anthea Turner, who was paired, or stuck with returning workaholic Jeremy. After his rude treatment of his last date, he gets a taste of his own medicine when Anthea declares he isn’t enough of a bad boy for her.
At the end of the night Jamie manages to steal a kiss from Sophie, but who expected anything else from the cheeky self proclaimed king of dating? While Alexandra and Anthea left things on uncertain terms with their dates, Jorgie appears to have found herself a boyfriend in Craig, who she brought to the Inside Soap Awards earlier this month! The celebrity special arguably boasted a higher success rate than the usual episodes; perhaps this should become a regular feature of First Dates…