First Dates: Revisiting the successful couples who met on the show
Avril and Shane were among those returning to the First Dates restaurant this week.
For the fourteenth and final episode of First Dates series eight, we take a trip back in time to revisit the show’s success stories — and welcome them back to the restaurant once more.
As Mateo reminds us in the opening of the episode, this restaurant is a special place indeed. It’s “where two hearts meet, and they become one”. But with the many awkward moments, cringe-worthy jokes and no thank yous to seconds dates, it can be hard to hold on to Mateo’s positive manta.
After a look back at some of this season’s highlights, we’re reminded of the love stories that have blossomed in the First Dates restaurant.
Kicking off our throwback, we rewind all the way back to 2017. For Shannon and Ciara, it was the year they nervously entered the First Dates restaurant in search of love, and found just that.
“For me, it was more the fear of the unknown,” says Shannon from Dublin of her fears of entering the restaurant for the first time.
Little did she know that her (spoiler-alert) now-fiancée Ciara would be ready to ease the nerves with a couple of shots of Baby Guinness. They bonded over their love for Maniac 2000 and after seeing a little flashback to that first meeting, it is hard to believe it was a whopping six years ago.
After saying yes to one another on the show, the pair had a second date in Dublin. In 2019, Shannon proposed to Ciara and while they had little savings for an actual wedding, she describes it more as a “promise”.
“You’re my person and I’m not letting you go,” she says.
It was love at first sight for Shane and Avril in 2020 and looking back, we can definitely see it in Shane’s face as he sets eyes on Avril at the bar — even with her facemask on.
But now, here they are before us, back in the place where it all began looking very dapper indeed. On the first date, they had a little cheers to being “out in the covid” and now, three years later they are toasting to “still being out after the covid — and a little bit closer together this time”. We’re not crying, you are.
Before that night in 2020, Meath man Shane had not been in a relationship for 14 years but clearly, he was just waiting for the right woman. And that woman was Avril.
Their date took place just days before the second covid lockdown and the pair kept in touch through WhatsApp before eventually making it official on Valentine’s Day 2021.
Who could forget Carla and Shez? The couple first hit it off on the show in 2020 and recently announced their wedding plans after getting engaged in 2021. However, Carla admits she felt it was an “instant no” when she first met Shez.
When we first met Carla from Antrim she told us she was looking for a sheep in wolf’s clothing. With plenty of tattoos and evident genuine love for his fiancée, the First Dates team was spot-on with this pairing. Clearly, it went very well and at the end of the date, they both rated it a nine out of ten — although, we would argue it was a solid ten, considering it has led to a wedding.
The pair reveal that they will be tying the knot in November and they “can’t wait”.
Old-school Donegal romantic Jay said he wanted his next relationship to be his last and it seems it was just that. He’s back in the restaurant with Alan from Monaghan and they’re here to tell us their love story. But Alan shocks us when he admits he almost didn’t show up for the date and had been contemplating pulling a sickie.
“I was sitting in work all day going, ‘I’m not going. I’m going to pretend I have covid.’” But thankfully, he did and at end of their date, we cheered as we learned the pair were in a relationship. During their return to the restaurant, they share the exciting news that they have now moved in together. Hooray!
Lastly, it was over to Ger and Jessica. While the pair hit it off during the date, comedian Jessica says she wasn’t sure.
“I wasn’t sure if he was my type physically,” she says. “Jess wanted Paul O’Connell,” Ger says.
They stayed friends but when covid happened, they moved home and ended up living together — but were still just friends.
They got a dog together — as friends, used to go for family dinners — as friends, but eventually, they shared a kiss. The rest, as they say, is history.
“I’m totally smitten,” Jessica says.
A few weeks after returning to the show to share their update, Ger popped the question. And he chose to do it in the First Dates restaurant.
After announcing their engagement, Jess told the Irish Examiner that they are hoping to tie the knot in summer 2023 but for now, they’re taking it one day at a time.
“We'll look at a couple of venues and then once we have the venue then we're going to figure out numbers but, it's exciting. It's exciting. I never thought I'd see myself buying a wedding dress. I never saw it in my future ever. And now it's really random. Really crazy. Kind of deadly.”
After a trip down memory lane and a reminder that love does in fact exist, Mateo makes a toast to just that — to celebrating love and “continuing what we started”. Ah, we will miss you, Mateo. Until next season…
