FIRST Dates is much loved comfort viewing amid the coronavirus lockdown, allowing us to watch singletons going on the ultimate blind date.
If you’re single and looking for love, then here’s how you can apply to be a part of the successful Channel 4 show.
Applications for First Dates 2020 – and for the younger among us, First Dates Teens – are OPEN.
Contestants apply online by filling in an application form on the First Dates Take Part page.
The 2020 form reads: “Our award winning Channel 4 dating series, First Dates and First Dates Hotel, are looking for singletons searching for love.
“First Dates and First Dates Hotel are documentary series which help contributors find a partner from a pool of other singletons and captures the highs and lows of first dates on camera.
“Each episode will feature a number of intimate first dates. In-depth interviews will help the viewers get to know the daters.
“Discreet cameras will record the date from start to finish – from first impressions, through all the awkward, heart-warming and funny moments, to the end of the date and the discussion about whether or not a second date is on the cards.”
If you’re looking for love, apply now by completing and submitting the following application form.
The obvious first requirement is hopeful applicants are 18 or over and of course, single.
Other criteria are listed under the two-page application process which includes basic contact details as well as a description of themselves and their ideal partner in 250 words or less.
The Twenty Twenty application then asks the applicant more personal questions such as body types, sexual orientation and an attached photo. This is to help with the matching process.
First Dates also asks for potential stars’ social media accounts because the team do a lot of online stalking around hopeful applicants to verify who they are and whether they’d suit the show.
First Dates uses a scientific method in order to match hopefuls with their potential partners.
The pair then meet up at swanky restaurant – London’s Paternoster Chop House – and we get to spy on their dates with the help of cameras and microphones.
At the end of the evening, the pair can choose to split the bill, go home together or alone.
They’re also interviewed by the production team to see where they went wrong and what they can improve on with potential future love matches.
You’ll be pleased to know that the venue is very real and, yes, you can dine there.
The show is filmed at the swanky The Paternoster Chop House in central London, next to St Paul’s Cathedral at 1 Warwick Court, Paternoster Square.
Starters are between £6 and £11, while mains are about £17 to £35.
When the restaurant’s not shut for filming you can book in to recreate your own awkward First Date if you wish.
You won’t however, get to be served by maître d’ Fred Sirieix or the popular waiters and waitresses from the show – CiCi, Sam, Laura, Austin and Merlin.
