OVER countless series, First Dates fans have watched complete strangers get tipsy together, enjoy a fancy meal and – hopefully – fall head over heels in love.
Since it first aired on Channel 4 in 2013, Fred Sirieix and the restaurant’s friendly waiters have produced at least 15 long-lasting romances – including five weddings and three babies.
But, there’s a lot more that goes on behind the scenes of First Dates, as Jemma Imber, 30, who was on the show in 2016, has now revealed.
From the tedious game producers force the singletons to play before the date to the “disappointing” amount the daters are given for the meal, these are some of the secrets from the show.
Restaurant before the restaurant
On TV, it seems as if the singletons turn up at the First Dates restaurant for their dinner, meet their date – and that’s it.
However, in actual fact, they’ve been at another restaurant round the corner playing games for hours.
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Clinical researcher Jemma tells us: “You meet in a restaurant that isn’t the actual place, with some of the other people going on dates at the same time.
“All our blind dates were held in a separate restaurant. Producers don’t tell you anything about your date at all.
She continues: “Producers take you downstairs and we had some wine and played games to try and ease you in, like drawing your ideal partner.
“All the previous drawings had been stuck on the wall. Mine was the worst.”
Producers interrupt dates to direct chats
Londoner Jemma, who now lives in Brisbane, Australia, arrived at the First Dates restaurant after her date “feeling a little tipsy” – and she confesses she “knew he was not for me” the moment she saw him.
“I was not attracted to him at all,” she says. “He was wearing these awfully fit jeans and really scruffy trainers and didn’t look like he put effort in. I definitely felt disappointed but I gave it a go anyway.”
And Jemma says the date – which lasted an hour and a half – felt very natural, with her barely noticing the cameras “placed around the restaurant on stands”.
In fact, the only time she remembered she was on a date that was being televised was when a producer came up to her to fiddle with her microphone.
She recalls: “They come up to you, tell you there’s a problem with your microphone, take you aside, fiddle around for a bit and then ask you to discuss particular questions or topics you brought up before.
“In my case, they wanted me to discuss my ex, my recent break-up and being Jewish, but I didn’t want to talk about my ex, and the Jewish thing just came up naturally.”
Where the taxi takes you
On First Dates, the daters are always seen awkwardly revealing to camera whether they want to have a second date or not.
They’re taken to that room – which is in the same building as the pre-date restaurant Jemma played games in – by the taxi you see on-screen.
For Jemma and her date, this took no time at all, as the pair were so sure they wouldn’t be seeing each other after.
She says: “It only took about 30 minutes, and we barely interacted after the date, apart from saying bye to each other as we exited the restaurant.”
How much singletons get paid
Having been “disappointed” with her date and “bored by the conversation”, when it came to the bill, Gemma – a “broke” student at the time – was gutted she had to shell out £30 of her own cash.
She explains: “Production gave us £40 each to go towards the meal, which sounds like a lot but that place is expensive!
“I was broke at the time so was a bit gutted I had to shell out another £30 on a bland date.
“We split it because I don’t expect a man to pay.”
Application took ‘two minutes’
When it came to applying for First Dates, it was a very quick process for Jemma.
Although Jemma’s episode aired in March 2016, she filmed it four months earlier – and it only took two months from her applying to her getting on the show.
“I actually applied very hungover in about two minutes,” she tells us. “Two months later I got a call asking about my application. I’d totally forgotten, they called me in for a pre-air chat. I had no idea that what they filmed would be aired.”
“I had just come out of a break-up and tried to describe the complete opposite of my ex in terms of what I was looking for but I didn’t mention any physical attributes.
“I then went travelling and forgot all about it until I got an email saying I had my date scheduled in November which luckily I would be back for.”
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Despite Jemma’s disappointing date, she had a “great experience” overall, and doesn’t regret going on it.
“I got recognised for ages afterwards, even after two years,” she says. “It was very funny for a long time. Also, there are memes floating around the internet of my face, so I guess that’s a plus.”
