Last week on the Ray D’Arcy show we had a blind date piece. We do them every few weeks and some have been very successful – a few have even resulted in marriage!
They work the same way as the TV show Blind Date – one guy asks questions to three girls who are in another studio. They can’t see each other, so he choses the girl purely based on what he hears. (When looks are long gone, the voice and personality remain!)
This time it was called “Find a cailín for Oisín”. Oisín is 27, works and lives in Waterford, is very cute and loves sport. He won’t be offended by me calling him a ‘normal Irish bloke’.
When we spoke to him on air first, he talked about the kind of girl he likes. A non-smoking girl, who likes the outdoors, is not afraid of a bit of sport, but someone who doesn’t play games!
That line seemed to trigger a flock of women emailing in to us.
We had the biggest reaction to this than any other dating item on our show. I spent the week wondering why? Yes he’s cute and sounds very nice, but so have lots of our other guys. I think it’s because of Oisín’s refreshing honesty, he put up his hand and said: ” I’d like a girlfriend”.
One application form made me laugh out loud. Under the heading “Why should we chose you to date Oisin” she said: ” Dating in Ireland is like a tin of Roses on new years day, there seems to be loads in there but on closer inspection it’s just the manky coffee and orange ones left.”
When I called some girls to chat about taking part they told me his line on not being interested in ‘girls who play games’ seemed to catch their attention. Yes it has always been there, but now it seems to have tipped over into full frontal rudeness!
The main offender is the text message. Guy texts girl, she texts back, he texts again, she texts back – they meet up, have a great time. Girl texts guy to say thanks for a lovely night and nothing. Nothing. It’s like he has died on the way home from their night out together. But she knows he hasn’t because he’s never bleedin’ off Facebook, uploading photos of him and his mates and then tweeting about premier league transfers – From his PHONE!
Where have our manners gone? Of course love won’t blossom from every single date you go on but at least have the decency to come up with an excuse! Bookend it, if a guy or girl has gone to the bother of meeting up with you then let them know where they stand.
If you’re stuck – try one of these:
1) I’m really busy with work right now – cutbacks mean I’m doing the jobs of three people.
2) I thought I was ready to start seeing someone but I’m not over my ex yet.
3) I’m looking at moving to Oz/ Canada (then if you bump into them a while later say you didn’t get the visa because of that criminal record).
Any of the above are better than nothing, and it shows you have some balls!
Oisín and the girls told me other dating horror stories – but alas I don’t have permission to divulge them.
On a positive note Oisín chose the gorgeous Andrea, aka Girl Number Two. They went on a date and “got on really, really, really well” – their words, not mine!
See ya,
Mairead, aka Cilla 😉
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