{"id":93364,"date":"2017-03-10T01:36:03","date_gmt":"2017-03-10T06:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=93364"},"modified":"2025-01-29T23:38:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-30T04:38:15","slug":"first-dates-lets-viewers-in-on-blind-dates-in-vancouvers-dating-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/03\/10\/first-dates-lets-viewers-in-on-blind-dates-in-vancouvers-dating-scene\/","title":{"rendered":"‘First Dates’ lets viewers in on blind dates in Vancouver’s dating scene"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Two
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\u201d (Photo: Taz\/Flickr)” width=”536″ height=”356″ \/><\/a> Two total strangers walk into a bar. That’s not the beginning of a joke, that’s the premise behind \u201cFirst Dates.\u201d (Photo: Taz\/Flickr<\/a>)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two total strangers walk into a bar. That’s not the beginning of a joke, that’s the premise behind \u201cFirst Dates.\u201d<\/p>\n

The series, which invites viewers to eavesdrop on couples as they squirm through a blind date, returns for a second season March 14 on Slice.<\/p>\n

The \u201cFirst Dates\u201d franchise started several seasons ago in the UK. This English-Canada edition takes place at an upscale Vancouver restaurant.<\/p>\n

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(A French Canadian version was shot in Montreal.) About a thousand potential daters applied; three quarters were single women.<\/p>\n

\u201cMen are harder to find,\u201d says executive producer Toby Dormer. \u201cThat may be down to Vancouver \u2014 hard to find single men.\u201d<\/p>\n

Greeting them at the restaurant is host\/bartender Adam Snider. \u201cI can usually tell right away if there’s any chemistry,\u201d he says. \u201cOf course there’s a lot of nerves. First dates are scary, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

In the season’s first episode, an exotic dancer is matched with a \u201cstrapping stuntman.\u201d A few tables over, a masseuse named Megan is, we are told, \u201clooking to get her hands on Mr. Right.\u201d She’s paired with Rob, a marine technician who seems lost at sea.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow old are you anyways?\u201d was one of Rob’s charming openers.<\/p>\n

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Things went downhill from there.<\/p>\n

All the chemistry, fireworks, awkwardness and discomfort is captured by over 40 cameras.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re small, about the size of a pint of beer,\u201d says Dormer of the unmanned cameras. The daters \u2014 who can be in the restaurant up to two hours \u2014 quickly forget the cameras are there.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s about as close as you can get to being a fly on the wall.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the cameras capture isn’t always flattering.<\/p>\n

\u201cVancouver women complained a lot about the men in Vancouver,\u201d says Dormer. \u201cThey feel they don’t make an effort. Whereas the men felt the women were only after one thing, which is money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some, he also believes, are genuinely looking for love. Many, he feels, are simply fed up with online dating.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can be quite demoralizing,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople in person don’t always live up to their online profiles. It’s human nature. You want to give the best impression of yourself that you possibly can.\u201d<\/p>\n

Things have changed since Dormer’s single days. Back then there was no Tinder, no swipe right to find the love of one’s life. He met his wife of 11 years through friends.<\/p>\n

Now he sees participants in his dating show race out at the end to meet up with another scheduled date. \u201cIt’s so hard to meet someone, the pressure seems to be magnified even more today.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every show ends with a brief epilogue revealing if there was a love connection between the featured couples. There are some surprises in the season premiere, especially when viewers learn what came next for two gay daters who met at the restaurant.<\/p>\n

Season 2 features straight, gay and lesbian couples.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a trans woman,\u201d says Dormer. \u201cIt’s simply who came to us.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the participants in the opener is deaf. In a later episode, a dater in a wheelchair is featured.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery person out there is welcome to be on the show,\u201d says Dormer. \u201cWe have kids who were 19 and we had people in their 70s. Searching for a partner, for the most part, is about as universal a theme as you can get.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two total strangers walk into a bar. That’s not the beginning of a joke, that’s the premise behind \u201cFirst Dates.\u201d …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":93365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[16425,16424],"class_list":["post-93364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-blind-dates","tag-first-dates","mauthors-bill-brioux","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93364"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":286909,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93364\/revisions\/286909"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93365"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}