LIGHTS, cameras, microphones and a full television crew aren’t usually what you’d have in mind for a romantic blind date – but for one Irish couple it was the perfect combination for a first encounter.
Gabrielle O’Connor and John Creegan, both aged in their 60s, felt the spark instantly when they met on RTE’s First Dates Ireland, and are still going strong five years on.
The happy couple told others to ‘go for it’[/caption]
Though their relationship started on screen, it quickly turned into a real connection that has lasted long after the cameras stopped rolling.
Signing up to the reality show, which pairs couples up for blind dates and films the experience, was certainly a daunting feat, with John admitting he thought: “God knows what’s going to happen.”
While Gabrielle knew it was time to take the leap back onto the dating scene after her daughter told her: “Mam, you need to find someone for you now.”
John told The Irish Sun: “I suppose I was at an age where I needed a bit of female company, rather than be on my own.
“Everybody needs a bit of love and all that, so I said I’d put myself out there sure, God knows what’s going to happen.”
Gabrielle admitted that it was originally her daughters who nudged her to apply and later helped her fill out the forms.
She said: “My youngest was starting college and my eldest daughter said, ‘Mam, you need to find someone for you now’.
“And I said, ‘I’m happy on my own, I’m grand’, but she said, ‘No you need someone that you can go on holidays with, go for weekends away, because you’re going to be here on your own’.”
John added: “It was a big leap for me because I’m normally very reserved and I didn’t know what to expect. But then I said, ‘Look I’ll go for something different’, and I did.”
Despite their reservations before walking into Dublin’s Gibson Hotel, where the hit show is filmed by COCO Content for RTE, the spark was clear from the get go.
Gabrielle said: “I was nervous as anything, but when I went in there and had the interviews and went for the actual day of the thing, I was a bit nervous.
“But as soon as I walked in and we met each other at the bar it was just like naturally meeting someone, it was like, this is meant to be. It just went so smoothly and we just connected.”
She continued: “There was so much connection there from the word go, it was amazing.
“It was a big leap, scary at the time, but once you got in and started chatting you didn’t feel all the cameras around and you didn’t feel anyone else was in the room.”
SHOW SECRETS
What surprised Gabrielle the most was how relaxed it all felt once the cameras started rolling.
She said: “I was thinking there would be someone standing behind you with a camera and the big microphone coming across the room over your head.
“I had all these visions of what it would be like behind the scenes – but when you actually go in and you’re there in the restaurant, it is like you’re in a normal restaurant.
“So you can just be yourself and when you start chatting and the conversation is flowing – you’re giving yourself because that’s what you’re there for.
“So being open and being honest was the easiest part of it because we clicked so well.
“It just makes you feel so comfortable, it doesn’t feel like a television show at all – that was the biggest surprise for me.”
John admitted he felt the same and revealed he didn’t feel like he had to put on an act.
He said: “I just felt very comfortable and I didn’t have to put on a show or anything like that, I just was myself.
“If you go on something like that, you have to give 100 per cent of yourself because you’ll be found out later on if you’re spoofing.
“Just be natural, just let it flow and see what happens, and that’s what we did.”
TAKE THE LEAP
The pair agree it’s a great opportunity to meet someone no matter what age you are and encouraged others to take the First Dates plunge.
John said: “It’s like everything else, the older you get the more mature you are, so you realise what you want.
“With all our life experiences, we know what type of person you want to meet and you know quickly whether they’re your type.
You want someone to go on holiday with, you want someone to have a weekend away with. You want something else in your life, to fill that gap”
“It’s great to be on a programme like that, normally programmes like that are for young people but it’s great to see a mature person, and it being older people than us.”
He added: “It’s a good start because at our age, where do you go dating now? It’s not like years ago where you could go to dance halls, whereas nowadays it’s all online and you don’t know who you’re talking to.”
Gabrielle said she would tell anyone in a similar position to take the leap and apply for the show.
She said: “You get to an age where when you are on your own and your kids are grown up and you are thinking, ‘I wish I could go out and do that’.
“Like my daughter said, you want someone to go on holiday with, you want someone to have a weekend away with. You want something else in your life, to fill that gap.”
She added: “I think it’s brilliant that they’re doing it for the older generation and for more mature people because they do know what life they’ve had and what they want and what they don’t want.
“When they’re young, they want to go out and they want tall, dark and handsome, they want a man with a good job, they look for an awful lot of things, the younger generation want that perfect man or perfect girl on their arm.
“As you get older, you just know what means more to you in a personality, in a companionship and in relationships.”
GO FOR IT
John revealed that he almost didn’t take the opportunity because he was “a bit shy” but knew he genuinely wanted to meet someone and said he was “lucky”.
He added: “Go for it, go for it. Be open and honest. Life is an experience so it’s just another chapter in your life.”
Gabrielle also advised that applicants should be “open and honest” about what they want and to trust that show bosses will do their best to match you with the right person.
As for what’s next, the couple told how they’re simply just enjoying life together at their own pace.
John said: “We enjoy each other’s company. It works for us, we don’t put each other under pressure, we go out and have good times and that’s all you can ask for.”
Gabrielle added: “We have great time for each other. We have our own lives separately and we have our lives together.”
First Dates Ireland airs on RTE 2 and is also available to stream on RTE Player.
And the tables are set, the champagne is on ice and the First Dates restaurant is now ready to welcome its next batch of blind daters.
So if you fancy your own shot at finding love, no matter what age you are, you can apply here to take part in the new series.
