First Dates is a British reality television programme that has aired on Channel 4 since 20 June 2013. The programme is narrated by Brian Protheroe.
Video First Dates
Production
The programme is filmed at the Paternoster Chop House restaurant in Central London, showing many people on dates, all of whom have not met each other before. At the end of the date, the couples are interviewed together and asked whether they would like to see each other again. The restaurant is closed to the public while filming takes place. The restaurant is fitted with 42 cameras and there are at least 70 crew members on set during filming, which lasts 15 hours a day. Each diner is given £25 towards the cost of their meal.
The spin-off series, First Dates Hotel, follows the same format with contestants meeting for the first time in a hotel restaurant, but if the date goes well, the couples are offered the opportunity to check-in for the night. The first season was filmed at Le Vieux Castillon in Castillon-du-Gard[2] offering idyllic settings with a variety of activities for the successful second daters, and added sommelier Xavier Chapelou to Fred Sirieix's team.
Maps First Dates
Restaurant staff
The restaurant's maître d' Fred Sirieix offers pieces to camera on the nature of love, romance and dating. When not filming for First Dates he works as the general manager at Galvin at Windows, a Michelin-starred restaurant at the London Hilton on Park Lane.
The waiting staff and barman do not work in the restaurant full time, but are recruited for when the series is being filmed. CiCi Coleman is an actor who trained at New York Film Academy, Laura Tott is in the Royal Navy, and barman Merlin Griffiths is a pub landlord who has previously worked as a global brand ambassador for Bombay Sapphire gin. The waiting staff are joined by Sam Conrad and Austin Ventour.
Transmissions
- Regular
- Celebrity
- First Dates Hotel
Special episodes
On 17 December 2015 Channel 4 aired a special episode of First Dates subtitled "The Proposal". This saw the return of 5 couples who had initially had their first dates in earlier episodes and who had formed a relationship and also included the first marriage proposal of a couple, by Scott to Victoria, who had met during an earlier episode of series 4.
Celebrity First Dates
On 12 October 2015, a celebrity edition of First Dates was shown. This was part of a fundraising evening on Channel 4 for Stand Up to Cancer. The celebrities taking part were Jorgie Porter, an actress in Hollyoaks; Anthea Turner, TV presenter; Jamie Laing from Made in Chelsea; and Alexandra Burke, a singer, and winner of the fifth series of The X Factor.
- Series 1 (2016)
A full celebrity series began on 8 July 2016 for four episodes.
- Episode 1: Esther Rantzen, Jessica Wright, Will Bayley and Richard Blackwood
- Episode 2: Ashleigh Butler, Jo Wood, Scarlett Moffatt and Preston
- Episode 3: Brad Simpson, Natasha Hamilton, Bernie Clifton and Keegan Hirst
- Episode 4: Daniel Brocklebank, Jessica Woodley, Siân Lloyd and Musharaf Asgar
A second Celebrity First Dates for Stand Up to Cancer aired in November 2017. Celebrities appearing were Sinitta, Roman Kemp, Michael Fabricant, Matt Terry and Jan Leeming.
International versions
The format created in United Kingdom has been adapted in USA, Ireland, Canada, Australia, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Poland, Israel, France, Netherlands and Brazil.
References
External links
- Official website
- First Dates at channel4.com
- First Dates on IMDb
Source of article : Wikipedia
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