'It wasn't love at first sight': Cork's Gogglebox couple share how they met
Dale and Dawn from Gogglebox at the Virgin Media Television new xeason Launch. Picture: Brian McEvoy
From coming out to friends on national TV to tying the knot last October, Gogglebox Ireland’s Dale and Dawn have been on quite the journey since they first appeared on our screens six years ago.
Watching people watch TV seems like an unusual concept but Gogglebox has proved popular among all ages. Even as participants, proud Corkonians Dale and Dawn enjoy watching the show back each week.
The pair have given viewers plenty of laughs since they applied for the show “for the craic” after a friend told them they would make for great commentators on the show.
“We saw an ad on Facebook and we just sent an email for the craic, and I sent a photo of the two of us because Dale is primarily a boy’s name. I don’t know why but I was just like ‘we’re a couple of gals’ and then through the jigs and the reels, we go on the show,” says Dale of their application — “and still can’t believe we’re still there” adds Dawn.
Dale, who is originally from Cork city’s northside and Dawn, from Charleville, have a lot in common and it’s no surprise that they became great friends before making it official as a couple. With four siblings each, and both the babies of their families, the pair also studied the same course in college, which is how their paths crossed.
On their first day of college Dale (31) and Dawn (30) met for the very first time and the rest, as they say, is history — well, maybe it wasn’t as simple as that.
“We met actually the first day of college. Dawn’s rolling her eyes now already,” says Dale over the phone. “It definitely was not love at first sight. These things grow I suppose, and I wore her down,” she laughs.
“We just became absolute best friends and one thing led to another.”
The pair were studying business at the Cork Institute of Technology (now MTU) but being in such close proximity worked well for them and judging by the entertainment they provide on Gogglebox, it’s still the case.
“It was actually grand. I took one for the team and failed the year,” laughs Dale. “We actually in general work very well together. We’re similar to an extent but different as well. Later on, we were working in the same shop together.”
Some may not realise that when Dale and Dawn first graced our screens on Gogglebox Ireland in 2016 and were introduced as partners, they were officially making their debut as a couple.
“I put in the email that we were together and things like that, but we had only come out to our parents and our siblings and our close friends about two months prior so how we came out to everyone else was the first episode we were on,” explains Dale.
“Our phones started melting anyway and people were — some were shocked, some weren’t so shocked — because we were so close,” says Dawn.
In October, the hilarious duo married in Cork’s Vienna Woods Hotel and shared some of their wedding planning and preparations on the show which was very special considering their first episode was the first sharing their relationship with the world.
“It’s just such a full-circle moment,” says Dale. “It’s great because for us growing up, there wasn’t really a same-sex couple that we could look at, that we could identify with and just on a daily basis, you’ve people coming up to you being like congratulations on the wedding or your dresses looked lovely.
“That was something that was a bit mind-blowing. It was such a lovely feeling to know that everyone was kind of behind us basically.”
After six years on our screens, they joke that they have become “z listers” in Cork and still find it surreal when people approach them in public.
“I just think as well that Cork people love Cork people. It can be very easy to watch Irish TV and its every second Dublin accent whereas to get representation from the south is lovely,” says Dale, who jokingly says Cork is her favourite subject to discuss.
Watching TV from the comfort of their home in Carrigaline, and often while in their comfiest PJs, the newlyweds say it’s easy to forget that you’re being filmed.
“Every now and then I have a little bit of a heart attack knowing that my mam watches it and some stuff that comes out of our mouths can be quite questionable but other than that, they are our biggest supporters,” says Dawn.
“My brother normally texts me to be like, mam’s going to kill you because I normally say something about my poor mother, about her bad cooking — you name it, that woman gets put through the wringer,” adds Dale.
airs Wednesday night on Virgin Media One
