IT’S hard to believe but it’s been two years since Take Me Out was axed and Paddy McGuinness uttered his last “No likey, no lighty”.
The dating show saw male contestants do their best to impress 30 single ladies, who kept their lights on if they were keen – before the lucky bloke had his pick of those who didn’t switch off.
In the 12 years since the dating show first aired, there’s been a surprising amount of success stories.
After 11 series, there have been seven weddings, one engagement and eight babies. Here we reveal the couples who found love on the Isle of Fernando’s…
Adele Vellacott and Dave Cobain
Part-time personal trainer Adele Vellacott, 41, met Dave Cobain, 38, who works for a cosmetics firm, on series two in 2011 – although they both went on dates with different people originally.
On the show, Essex lad Dave originally chose a girl called Lucy over Adele – who previously told The Celeb Report: “I was gutted, but you try to put on a brave face because you know everyone is watching.”
After their first Take Me Out dates didn’t work out, they contacted each other off-screen.
“It was a blessing in disguise,” said Adele. “Because Dave and I got to know each other as friends. We went to Take Me Out reunions and friends’ birthdays.”
The couple became official in June 2011, and moved in together two years later, when Adele was six months pregnant with their son Freddie, now eight.
In 2014, they became the first Take Me Out couple to marry.
And they’re still together now, living in Bristol with their kids, Freddie and Elsie, three.
They’ve also appeared on Come Dine With Me together.
Beckie Finch and Adam Ryan
Hairdresser Beckie Finch, 34, met Adam Ryan, 37, the head of an awards competition, on series eight in 2016 – but he also picked another girl on the show.
Beckie previously told The Celeb Report: “I was really happy for the girl, Laura – we were all such good friends – though I did stick my bottom lip out a bit.
“I got picked soon afterwards by another lad anyway.
“Adam then messaged me saying he’d made a mistake and said he would like to take me out on a date. I wrote back joking, ‘I took my rejection badly, you know!’
“He said he’d make it up to me.”
A week after Beckie got back from Fernando’s, Adam took her on a date in London.
“It was the best date ever: he got me cocktails and took me to see The Play That Goes Wrong,” she recalled. “From then on we were inseparable.”
Six months after their first date, Adam took Beckie to the same show and proposed in front of the audience at the end.
They married in April 2017, and their first son Indigo, now three, was born a day after their first wedding anniversary.
In May last year, Beckie and Adam welcomed their second son, Rocket, into the world.
Announcing the news, she wrote on Instagram: “The second son of my dreams. Born 27th May 2021 at 11:11am, weighing 7lbs. Welcome to the world, our darling Rocky.”
Ella Ruby and Simon Ryan
Weirdly enough, Adam’s identical twin brother Simon Ryan also met his wife-to-be on Take Me Out.
Ella Ruby and Simon both appeared on Take Me Out series eight in 2016 – and while they didn’t get together onscreen, their romance blossomed backstage.
In 2018, Simon proposed to Ella in a Harry Potter-themed escape room – and Adam and Beckie helped make it happen.
The couple were originally meant to tie the knot in June 2020, but have had their wedding date pushed back multiple times due to Covid. Let’s hope 2022 is their year!
Greig Senior and Kerry Beacom
Yet another couple who got together off-screen are car salesman Greig Senior and veterinary student Kerry Beacom.
They both appeared on Take Me Out in 2011 – although not in the same episode – and met at the series three wrap party.
Kerry said: “I just thought he was gorgeous and for me. It was really love at first sight.
“Greig was on Take Me Out two days before me and whisked a girl off to the Isle of Fernando’s but, luckily for me, his love match didn’t work out.”
They got engaged in 2013 and married in 2015, even choosing to have the Take Me Out logo on their wedding cake and the tables named after Paddy McGuiness catchphrases, such as “Let the Mr see the Mrs”.
The happy couple welcomed a son, Archie, in 2018 and a daughter, Della, in September 2019. They’re also parents to three dogs.
Robyn Utton and Stuart Smith
One couple who did actually meet after matching on Take Me Out in 2013 are office PA Robyn Utton, 34, and IT trainer Stuart Smith, 33.
After having a long-distance relationship for two-and-a-half years, Robyn moved down to Somerset, and Stu proposed on Christmas Day 2015.
In 2017 they tied the knot, and they’re also parents to Dylan, who turns three next month.
“Take Me Out brought us together – I think it was fate to be honest,” Robyn said.
Gemma Gordon and Gavin Ellis
Gemma Gordon and Gavin Ellis matched on the show in 2013 – and Gavin fell hard for Gemma on their first date in Fernando’s.
Since then they’ve got married and had a baby girl together, called Elvie-Rose.
Gemma said of her husband: “I never expected to find the love of my life on the show. I just wanted to do something totally different. But meeting Gavin has been brilliant.”
Since appearing on Take Me Out, Gavin, who is a wedding singer, has also been on The Voice – but it was a case of “no likey, no lighty” as none of the judges turned for him.
Dawn Edwards and Dan Nash
Interior designer Dan Nash and air hostess Dawn Edwards got together on one of the show’s earliest episodes back in 2010, when he picked her for a date to Fernando’s.
Dawn left her light on for Dan after he treated the ladies to a performance of Sunshine Of Your Love on his electric guitar.
The following year they moved in together and in 2014 they got married.
They welcomed their first child together, Charlie, now five, in October 2016.
Dan said it was love at first sight, telling The Celeb Report: “For me the spark was instant. I thought Dawn looked lovely and when she was interviewed she said she was really close to her family which I liked.
“We chatted easily once the cameras were off and we were able to go out for a meal. I knew I just had to kiss her. It was amazing and it was obvious we were desperate to see each other again once we got back.”
Lindsay McCartney and Andrew Shaw
Lindsay McCartney was unimpressed when Andrew Shaw rejected her for another girl – Peggy Lawrence – during the second series of Take Me Out in 2011.
In fact, when Andrew broke things off with Peggy and got in touch with Lindsay after encouragement from his family, who’d been in the audience, she initially refused his request for a date.
But, after speaking to her family about the situation, she decided to give him a second chance, and Andrew travelled four hours to Scotland to take her out.
They soon became inseparable, spending every weekend together, and nine months later Andrew proposed by writing “Will you marry me?” in the sand while on a beach holiday in Florida.
They got married in 2013 and are now living together in Australia.
In 2018, Lindsay told the Daily Mail: “I told Andrew it was a condition when I met him that I wanted to come to Australia for my nursing.
“I just knew there were better opportunities for nursing in Australia. That’s something I’ve always wanted to do.
“I got the better end of the deal because I got him chasing me. We are now planning in the near future to have kids. At the moment we have a dog, he’s our fur baby!”
