Ever wondered what it’s really like to be a participant on Channel 4’s hit reality series, First Dates?
Matthew, a 25-year-old mindfulness coach, and Nicole, a 28-year-old yoga instructor, were matched up by the show’s producers in the opening episode of the new series.
Clearly a match made in heaven, the pair have been dating ever since they first met at The Botanist in March last year. Since then, they have been travelling together, bought a caravan and are even teaming up to run a wellness retreat in Ibiza later this year.
Sitting down with HELLO!, Matthew and Nicole opened up about their experience on the long-running series.
Keep reading to find out what actually happens behind the scenes, including what host and maître d’ Fred Sirieix is really like off-camera. But first, watch a clip of their date below, in which Nicole opens up about being diagnosed with the inherited genetic condition, cystic fibrosis.
© Paul Groom / Channel 4You forget the cameras are there
Nicole: The date is so immersive, I forgot that we were even being recorded. It’s like how it looks [on screen]. I was actually shocked.
We both love First Dates and to live it and be in it, it still felt really real. There’s no stop and start. We were left to our own devices.
© Channel 4The pre-date interviews are filmed on a different day
Matthew: The interview you see between segments, where we talk about our lives, is filmed before. Because my phone call was so late, mine was a week before.
Nicole: Mine was a month before.
“The date is so immersive, I forgot that we were even being recorded.”
© Paul Groom / Channel 4Fred Sirieix and the team are just as nice in real life
Nicole: Fred made me feel so at ease. He was really warm and welcoming when I walked into the restaurant. He made me laugh. Merlin and our waitress CiCi were both really lovely, too.
Matthew: Even off camera, when Fred was taking us to have dessert, he asked me about my mindfulness, just because he wanted to know. He’s exactly the same person off-camera as on-camera. Really nice.
© Paul Groom / Channel 4Participants are left to their own devices once the date is over
Nicole: At the end of the date, we were free to go. Matthew had already asked me if I wanted to go for a cocktail in Bath after we’d finished, and I said yes. So there we were, just going around Bath, heading into a cocktail bar, sitting there like, ‘Wow, what a day’.
We felt like children being left to our devices to go and run around Bath. There’s no pressure on you seeing that person again.
First Dates is available to stream on Channel 4. New episodes air on Fridays at 10pm.
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