First Dates recap: A good carvery dinner, furry friends and a shared love of gaming
Thursday night's episode of First Dates Ireland saw Liam and Connor hit it off over dinner.
Eight more daters rocked up in style to the First Dates restaurant on Thursday in the hopes of making a connection with their date.
Thursday’s episode saw Becky and Aaron bond over their shared love of gaming and past life experiences with anxiety and navigating an autism diagnosis; Liam and Conor hit bond over dinner and continue their date with a drink; Michelle and Kevin share dating experiences and a love of dogs; and Ciarán and Hannah appreciate a good carvery dinner.
Becky from Kilkenny confessed before entering the First Dates restaurant that she has “the worst case of sailor's mouth”.
Adopted from Thailand when she was 11 months old, she explained to barman Neill while waiting for her date that doesn’t consider herself Thai and said she’s “more or less Irish”.
Her date, gamer Aaron from Wexford, entered the First Dates restaurant in the hopes of finding someone to spoil.
The 26-year-old said he was seeking an extrovert to complement his introverted tendencies.
The pair quickly bonded over their shared interest in “anything techy” and gaming, with Becky sharing her experience at Dublin Comic Con and how she enjoyed cosplaying at the event.
They spoke about their tattoos and what they mean, with Aaron sharing how one of his tattoos is a reminder of the phrase ‘Hakuna Matata’ meaning ‘no worries’ for when he is feeling anxious.
He spoke about how he has gone from being someone who lacked confidence to finally being in a place where he is the most confident he has ever been and how it was a breakup that prompted him to seek counselling.
Opening up to Aaron about her past struggles, Becky spoke hoe she struggled to make friends growing up and was a target for bullies in school. She went on to talk about her experience of being diagnosed as autistic at the age of 21.
Speaking after her date with Aaron, she described him on screen as really fun and very easy to talk to and said it was the moment she noticed his tattoos that she knew “we have something here”.
Aaron said he thought there was a bit of a spark with Becky and that there was something to explore, with the pair agreeing that they would like to see each other again.
Flashing his fabulous Turkey teeth at the First Dates restaurant, Liam from Belfast left a lasting impression on his date Conor from Monaghan.
Conor, who confessed how tired he is of being mistaken for a ‘ladies man’ when all he wants is an older man in his life, opened up about what he is looking for in a partner while Liam spoke about his previous marriage to a woman who he had two kids with at a younger age.
Liam said he separated from his then-wife and entered a same-sex relationship at the age of 30 which lasted until he was 36. He has been single since and said he’s ready to meet some now at the age of 43.
Conor said he did want kids previously but that babysitting his nieces and nephews made him change his mind and said he likes to live his life on his terms without the responsibility of kids.
“My friends have kids and they don’t do anything and can’t go anywhere and I just want to be able to do whatever I want,” he said.
Liam said he loves his kids but that having two teenagers is “hard work” and said that he would not want to have any more children at his age, saying it is his time now to travel and experience life.
Speaking following their date, Conor said he felt a spark with Liam and said he thinks “it could do somewhere”.
They both said they would like to see each other again and decided to carry on the date with a drink after dinner.
Dog-lover Michelle made it clear from the get-go that it would be a dealbreaker if her date didn’t love dogs.
To her delight, 41-year-old Kevin, who made his return to the restaurant for a second chance at finding love, revealed that he has two dogs - Ollie and Lucy.
Kevin, who said he was so long out of the dating game that he no longer knew how to chat someone up, was obviously impressed by Michelle’s beauty and personality, saying on screen that his eyes would give it away if the date was going well.
They spoke about how difficult it is to date, with Michelle describing the dating scene as “grim”.
Things seemed to be going well on their date before Kevin mentioned that he has three kids and a grandchild, which visibly made Michelle a little nervous.
“It is one of the coolest jobs in the world, being a dad,” he said.
Ultimately, however, Michelle said it freaked her out that he had three kids and that she couldn’t get past that to move forward together.
Gardener Ciarán, 22, from Kerry was paired with Hannah from Cork. The pair’s nervous energy slowly melted away as they continued to get to know each other and their shared interests over dinner.
Ciarán said there’s a bit of a hopeless romantic in him and said he’s looking for someone with an infectious personality and a good sense of humour, while Hannah said she’d like to find someone kind and family-orientated, adding that it would be the cherry on top if they were from a farming background.
The pair bonded over a love of carvery dinners, which Ciarán said he would sniff out in a slurry pit, their zest for trying new things in life and their farming experiences.
Hannah spoke about her experience applying to be the Cork Rose and went on to talk about how she loves to help out on her granny’s farm.
Ciarán said he would often help his uncle on his farm when younger and had shown a couple of his show cows.
“I was ‘King of the Ring’, as they say. I wasn’t but I like to think I was,” he said.
They both commented on how they enjoyed each other’s company and the meal with Ciarán saying: “It was actually a lovely meal. The only thing that would have made it nicer is a cup of tea. A strong cup of Barry’s tea.” The pair said they would like to meet each other again, with Hannah hoping for her fairytale ending.
