First Dates recap: Spilled Guinness, sing-songs and a mother's sound advice
First Dates Ireland returned to our screens on Thursday night with daters including: (clockwise/left to right) Paddy and Dervla; Doyle and Luis; John and Sinéad; and Hugh and Aisling.
First Dates Ireland returned to our screens on Thursday night for a tenth series with singletons from far and wide hoping to find their forever love at the First Dates restaurant.
The much-loved Alice and Pete also return to offer words of encouragement to the daters between taking orders, and friendly barman Neil and maitre d’ Mateo Saina are back to give daters insightful observations on love and life.
Episode one opened with IT manager Paddy (27) from Kildare predicting that the nerves would “probably kick in”, but after meeting 23-year-old singer-songwriter Dervla from Donegal, the nerves quickly melted away.
Speaking to Neil at the bar, he revealed that he enjoys sports and being out and about and said it would “be nice” to find an outdoorsy girl.
Enter Dervla whose ambition is to become a sports reporter and interview football coach Jim McGuinness coming off the field at Croke Park.
The pair spoke about dating in this generation and how they want to meet someone naturally - how their parents met.
They also bonded over their interest in GAA but not so much Christy Moore whose songs Dervla loves to play on guitar but who Paddy said he “can’t warm to”.
Taking a call in the bathroom Dervla described Paddy as very down to earth and said the date was flowing well, while Paddy told waiter Alice that the nerves from earlier had disappeared as the date flowed.
After dinner, Dervla played a song for Paddy which he said was the last thing he was expecting to happen on the date.
When asked if they wanted to see each other again, they both responded with a yes saying that they both felt a spark. Dervla forgave that Paddy had never been to Donegal and Paddy described Dervla as stunning and said he wasn’t expecting to be serenaded.
Luis (27), originally from Brazil and living in Dublin, brought the Latino fire as well as plenty of laughs to the First Dates restaurant alongside his date Doyle from Nigeria.
While waiting for Doyle to arrive at the restaurant, Luis showed us his humorous side when bumping into his boss, barman Neil, who he sang a rendition of Adele’s Someone Like You with.
Meeting Doyle at the bar before sitting down for dinner, the pair’s energy could instantly be felt through the TV screen.
The pair spoke about their experiences of moving to Ireland, Luis in 2023 and Doyle in 2018, and also spoke of their love for the country and Irish culture, as well as their plans for the future.
Luis, who acted in plays and short films back home in Brazil, offered to be involved in Doyle’s future creative endeavours after Doyle, who is a writer, shared that he is currently working on new material.
The pair also shared their love for musicals, with Doyle expressing his delight at Luis' answer when asked what his favourite musical was - both sharing that is their all-time favourite.
During the date, Alice checked in on the pair who agreed that they both had a good sense of humour and that the date was going well.
Before the date ended, the pair shared a kiss and when asked if they would like to see each other again romantically, they both said they would with Luis’ boss Neil chiming in to give his approval of Doyle.
41-year-old Sinéad from Louth and 51-year-old John from Dublin brought their colourful personalities to the First Dates restaurant, with the pair bonding over their bold choice of hair colour and vibrant outfits.
School teacher and stand-up comedian Sinéad and part-time DJ John sparked conversation about the importance of being creative as an adult, overcoming fears, and future plans.
Sinéad spoke of her ambition to own her own house, having lived in a mobile home with no running water and a compost toilet for the past two years.
“My living situations over the last few years have definitely hampered any kind of romantic situation, I would say. It's also hard to attract a man back to the house when you have a toilet that needs to be emptied - they don’t love it,” she said.
John spoke of losing his interest in music after having kids but that he has started DJing again and “really getting into music again”.
Asked if they like to see each other romantically after their date, they both said they enjoyed each other's company but that there was no romantic spark.
23-year-old Hugh from Kildare and 20-year-old Aisling from Limerick were the final pair to feature on the first episode of series ten.
Getting off to a great start with his date, Hugh managed to spill some of his pint of Guinness on himself which he said could have given Aisling the ‘ick’.
But Aisling, who admitted that she was “weak at the knees” for Hugh, was too distracted by his curly mullet, moustache and tattoos which sealed the deal for her.
During the date, the pair spoke about their past dating experiences and their hometowns, with Hugh saying he had enjoyed a good Limerick house party in the past.
Calling her mother to tell her about her date, Aisling said the vibes were vibing and took her mother’s advice to go for it.
The pair said that they would like to see each other again and that it was evident that they fancied each other. The pair left the restaurant holding hands and have since enjoyed a second date.
