First Dates, Television

First Dates: Series 7, Episode 17

December 11, 2016by Jono Read63 Comments

Tonight in the First Dates restaurant it was another first – a family Double Date was on the cards. Could Fred match a mother and son duo with two new partners?

Bobby and Tyler

Bobby 30-year-old from Essex has come along with his mum on a double date in the First Dates restaurant. Bobby’s date is nanny Tyler from Surrey. Bobby was keen to meet someone with family values (hence the double date), so a nanny was surely right up his street?

Bobby’s family values go back to his 16-year-old self when he found out his dad was cheating on his mum. He’s keen for his mum to be happy, hence why they’re both in the restaurant today.

While Bobby seems to have a mature outlook most of the time, he seems to have been a bit of a bad boy. He was used to having long weekends having fun with his mates, and his fiance was having none of it, despite warning him several times.

On the flip-side Tyler’s relationship didn’t fair much better. She had previously met someone amazing, until three or four months into the relationship she found out her partner was married, and was also seeing multiple women.

Bobby was certainly sympathetic on this, after seeing his father break his mother’s heart in this way, and the impact it had on the family.

Bobby and Tyler bonded over topics like fears and movies, and there appeared to be mutual attraction leading to flirting, and naturally a second date. They went on to party in Soho.

Nick and Jane

55-year-old Jane, Bobby’s mum, is in the restaurant with his son Bobby. Fellow divorcee Nick is looking for someone to share his spare time with, whether it’s a night on the sofa, or going out for a curry.

The double date scenario certainly gave Nick and Jane a good talking point.

Nick was once married and worked in a convenience store working all of the hours under the sun. It was the job that essentially damaged his marriage, and left it irreparable by the time they’d realised. He sold his house, and moved after forty years into his own house by the sea.

By contrast, as we know from Bobby, Jane had a heart time with her divorce after finding her partner was cheating on her. She’s only just got back on talking terms with the father of her children, but she’s still feeling very raw about it, and in particular, lonely.

Both Nick and Jane seemed to enjoy themselves, and Nick was looking forward to a second date, where perhaps he could meet the rest of her family.

Lee and Abigail

Mancunian barber Lee is a bit of a nervous wreck – he admits to this. He was so nervous on his way to the date he seems to have given himself an unintended strong fake tan on the way. Lee feels he’s been left on the shelf and he’s missed his chance in life.

However, blonde bombshell and nurse Abigail, 24, from Manchester could be just the tonic for Lee’s problems. She’s used to getting pulses racing as nurse, but the men in her life so far have been a bit of a disappointment.

Unfortunately for Lee nerves were getting the better of him when he met Abigail. He kept forgetting his date’s first name – even when Fred gave a gentle reminder.

Abigail was looking for someone who has a good career and someone with plenty of charisma, but she also likes someone who is Northern too, and down-to-earth. So will she be won over by Lee?

Lee has been single for three years. He’s a father, but the mother of his child sadly fell out of love with him.
By contrast Abigail was looking for someone to be there at the end of her demanding day job.
Poor Lee was still having problems by the end of the evening. He was having trouble with his flies in the toilet, water from the sink went everywhere, and he was spraying gravy all over the table.

Lee ranked Abigail at 10/10 but he wasn’t convinced the feeling was mutual. Nonetheless, despite Lee’s nerves, Abigail was up for a second date. She thought he was a “hoot” (as she put in her own words).

Paul and Sophie

Maths braniac Paul is in “alien territory” in the First Dates restaurant. While Paul’s a bit of an expert on the rubix cube, it’s the dating that’s left him puzzled. 26-year-old Paul is a maths teacher in Liverpool. Unfortunately his use of maths chat-up lines have been unsuccessful so far. He’s looking for someone who can appreciate his job and the demands that come with teaching and marking, but also can pull him away from the daily routine he’s become so used to.

24-year-old Sophie could be the person to solve Paul’s +1 problem. She’s a bit scatty, she even managed to leave her possessions on the train on the way to her date. Sophie works in a bank, meaning that numbers are presumably her forté, however she sounded less than convinced about that.

Sophie and Paul seemed to be a case of opposites potentially attracting. Paul is very OCD about being organised, his morning routine is planned by the minute. Sophie, on the other hand, is far from organised.

Sophie had problems dealing with Paul’s geekiness. Problem solving, she claims, gives her a headache. The Rubix cube was difficult enough to understand, so I’m not sure how she copes working in a bank.

The pair seemed to intrigue each other, but there appeared to be some doubt about each other through the evening. The idea of opposites attracting seemed to remind Sophie of her parents. The two were quite keen to therefore meet again. Sophie finally got to play with Paul’s rubik cube on the second date.

Jermie and Raynor

Honorary Brit Jermie, 37, from Liverpool has been compared a lot to Barry White. They absolutely adore his voice whenever he’s on the phone, and he’s spent the past 8 years since moving from Chicago perfecting the British accent.

Looking to inject some romance into her life is 40-year-old Raynor from Manchester. She takes blood as part of her day job (don’t ask me to spell the job title), and is looking for a bigger guy who can throw her around the bedroom.

Raynor has just turned 40, so she sees this as a turning point arriving at the First Dates restaurant.

An interesting fact about Jermie is his addiction to all sorts of shoes. He claims to have 83 pairs of shoes.
Jermie also has a bit of a self-esteem problem. He lost a lot of weight recently, but the weight has been a real issue for him ever since he was a kid. In his own words, he doesn’t feel comfortable in his own skin.

It’s the difficult childhood about his insecurities that led to him working as a teaching assistant for children with autism. He sees it as fighting in the corner for the little guy.

Raynor had originally been studying for Midwifery, but had a hectic time trying to balance a difficult relationship, children and all the tasks this involves, as well as university. It was a big disappointment when she finally dropped out. Now her children are grown up she’s got the travel bug and looking for someone to go with her.

Raynor and Jermie seemed to get on very well. Raynor seemed to sing his praises, until they got into the interview room together, when she decided the two would be better off as friends. Did she get wind of Jermie thinking otherwise? It was baffling how her thinking had changed so quickly.

Next time on First Dates

First Dates is back on Monday 19 December for the final episode of the season. It’s a Christmas special, so expect lots of sparkle. The show airs at 9pm next week. Meanwhile watch more First Dates on catch-up on All4, and read more reviews of this series of First Dates on my blog.

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Written by Jono Read
Jono Read is a 32-year-old writer from Norfolk. He is a social media manager and a journalist. He blogs about politics, popular culture, and marketing.