First Dates review: Hughie and Paul have the most tense date in TV history
Hughie and Paul
Dubliner Hughie arrived at the restaurant buffed, bronzed and Botoxed for his evening but was blindsided when Mateo recognised him. “Please don’t tell me I’ve been on a date with you,” Hughie said before revealing he appeared on Dancing with the Stars in Ireland and Big Brother in the UK.
While waiting to be joined by his date, hairstylist Paul from Glasgow, Hughie gatecrashed nearby Hannah and Bethany’s date to compliment their hair and clothes and talk about Hannah Montana. He’s quite the chatty guy and made the entire restaurant laugh when he said he doesn’t eat meat - ”apart from sausages the odd time”.
However, Paul didn’t look particularly pleased throughout the date, openly grimacing and rolling his eyes while Hughie spoke. “He’s too much, he’s too full-on,” Paul told his nearby pals while his date wasn't at the table. Hughie, meanwhile, found Paul’s attitude quite rude. Even Paul’s finest scissors couldn’t cut through the post-date tension when they really let each other know how they felt. Ouch.
If laughter is the language of love, these two were smitten. Hannah from Manchester came to Dublin just before the first lockdown and for her date, she was paired with Bethany from Cork. Bethany, with her two-tone hair and cool-girl look, is a true Corkonian. Within four seconds of meeting maitre d Mateo the words ‘the real capital’ rolled out of her mouth with the ease of any person from the Rebel county who finds themselves out of their comfort zone (in Dublin).
Hannah and Bethany bonded over their love of tattoos but differed over their food preferences, with Bethany calling prawns, Hannah’s favourite food, “rotten, like” but she was tempted to try her oysters. No, that’s not an innuendo. The dry heaving and instant regurgitation suggest she didn't enjoy the experience. “That’s vile,” she declared. “Safe to say I won’t be trying oysters again.” She chanced a prawn though. She still wasn’t a fan.
While Bethany won’t be ordering seafood again, the two women really connected and, amid a stream of giggles, agreed they’d like to see each other again and it was revealed they’ve been for drinks together since they met. Aww!
Semi-retired groundskeeper John turned up to his date with Gabrielle all prepared: a red rose and a ‘fisty bump’ were all he needed to begin wooing his new companion. “I don’t like coming home to an empty house,” he told Ethan at the bar before being joined by Gabrielle, who wanted to meet “a nice gentleman”. It seems she was in luck. After some bad luck with relationships over the years, Gabrielle said he was focusing on herself. They hit it off and the bill hadn’t even arrived at the table when John told her he wanted to see her again. After the date, she said she’d like to see where it goes and it was revealed they are now dating. Yay!
It will take something special to wow Iesha, who said her name means 'she who must be listened to or she who must be obeyed'. I thought all women’s names meant that. She said she wants a guy in a nice shirt, wearing trousers rather than “bogger” jeans and who doesn’t drink Bulmers. She was introduced to Martin, who was sipping a Baileys and dressed for the interview of his life. So far, so good. They talked about their mams before Martin dropped quite the story: his dad, who is the seventh son of a seventh son, used to be a monk before fathering five children and owning a pub. What was almost a dealbreaker was when Martin said he plays the guitar and would play it at parties. Iesha didn’t look impressed. The spark wasn’t there and the pair parted as friends, though she did want to know one thing: “Can I meet your dad?” Can we all meet him?
