10 years of FIRST DATES

As a new series returns, maître d’ Fred Sirieix chats about the show’s success

Channel 4’s First Dates restaurant has opened its doors to thousands of singletons eager to find love over the years with the help of charming host Fred Sirieix. And as the new series begins this week, in Bath, he says it’s the best series ever. Considering the show has launched many spin-offs, including Teen First Dates, Celebrity First Dates and First Dates Hotel, that’s quite a claim. But the incurably romantic, Frenchborn restaurant manager Fred, 51, believes that people will never tire of watching hopeful couples hooking up and that the show’s popularity is down to how seriously they approach the subject.

‘We are very good at what we do,’ says I’m a Celebrity star Fred, who claims he’s been privately matchmaking friends since he was a teenager.