Source : the age
As television dating shows descend further into a blood sport, with its players battling it out in the barnyard to win a farmer’s heart, or stealing fake spouses at dinner parties, there is something comforting in the simplicity of First Dates Australia. Based on the UK original, it’s a sweeter slice of voyeurism, not unlike Love on the Spectrum. No one seems to get too badly hurt, even if the answer to the question, “Would you like to go on a second date?” is a polite, “No.”
“In 95 per cent of the cases, you can tell if people aren’t going to match, or if people are a red flag,” says bartender Cameron Pascoe, who, this sixth season, is resuming his role of chief cocktail maker and “therapy dog”.
“The staff have a sixth sense about these things … The bartender’s definitely listening in, and we just want people to have a good time. ”
Over his 20 years in hospitality, working in Michelin-starred restaurants from Whistler to Brisbane, and now at his whiskey bar Neat Peat in Sydney, Pascoe has learnt that “good service can make or break a date”. He’s also witnessed the evolution of dating.
“I was bartending before the iPhone. Back in those days, people used to actually meet in bars and talk to each other,” he says. “And then the iPhone and dating apps happened and all of a sudden, people sat at opposite ends of the bar and checked out each other’s pictures. And nowadays, people sometimes don’t even meet. It’s harder than ever to find people that you want to go on a date with, let alone fall in love with.”
Melbourne comedian Diana Nguyen takes the plunge on the series, sitting down for a 90-minute, three-course dinner with disability support worker Liam. Although no stranger to television, having appeared on The Project and Q+A, the self-confessed “love fool” felt “vulnerable”.
“I really do believe in love, and when I was asked to be on the show, I thought, ‘Maybe I could find him there,’” says Nguyen.
At 38, with “a Vietnamese mother who is worried about my fertility”, Nguyen shares dating war stories on her podcast, The SnortCast, so named after her adorable laugh. “The boys love it! I think that loosens them up. Men love to think they’re funny. And if a man can make me laugh, he’s winning.”
Nguyen enjoyed having her first conversation with Liam, IRL (in real life).
“The way we’re communicating is isolating people,” she says. “I’ve got a friend who has an 18-year-old daughter who is dating on the app. When I was 18 years old, I was meeting people on the street, or going to uni, or playing sport … It’s a weird thing. You do need courage to go off the app to meet someone.”
Much like the other restaurant staff watching from the sidelines, bartender Pascoe becomes emotionally invested.
“I’m not going to say that you take sides,” he says. “But you definitely take sides … And you do your best to guide the experience. Wouldn’t it be nice if they just found the one? If that person, through some miraculous turn of events, just happened to walk through the door … I think everybody has that glimmer of hope … I was lucky enough. My husband was my neighbour. Sometimes you need a bit of luck on your side.”
When it comes to the bill, he believes in both chivalry and equality.
“One of the most heartfelt moments from the first season was when the bill was put down in front of a couple and they both reached for it and touched hands. All our hearts melted … I think gentlemen should be polite and offer when they feel it’s right. But splitting the bill is common. It’s not a bad thing to say, ‘Everything’s going to be even from the start’. That’s what makes for a good relationship.”
First Dates Australia returns at 7.30pm on Tuesday, June 23, on Seven.
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Bridget McManus is a television writer and critic for Green Guide. She was deputy editor of Green Guide from 2006 to 2010 and now also writes features and interviews for Life & Style in The Saturday Age and M magazine in The Sunday Age.
