First Dates (Irish TV series)

First Dates Ireland^[2][3] is the Irish version of the international reality television series First Dates.

First Dates
Genre	Reality
Narrated by	Peter Campion
Country of origin	Republic of Ireland
Original language	English
No. of series	8
No. of episodes	52
Production
Running time	60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company	Coco Television[1]
Original release
Network	RTÉ2
Release	21 April 2016 (2016-04-21) – present

Format

The programme is filmed at The Gibson Hotel on Mayor Street in the Point Village in Dublin City, with Mateo Saina showing many people on dates, all of whom have not met each other before. At the end of the date, the couples are interviewed together and asked whether they would like to see each other again.

Restaurant staff

The restaurant's maitre d' is Croatian born and Dublin resident Mateo Saina^[2] who offers pieces to camera on the nature of love, romance and dating. Joining Mateo is his team of merry matchmakers; barman Neil Kenna and waitress Alice Marr, who will help set the scene and give romance the best possible chance to flourish.^[2]

Renewal

Due to its success^[3] the series was renewed for a third season of 14 episodes which broadcast in 2018. On series 6 Shez and Carla were the first couple to get engaged and have set a date for the wedding. The eighth season is currently showing on RTE 2.