‘I went to the First Dates restaurant – Fred Sirieix tried to set me up with the chef’

The maître d’ just can’t resist matchmaking! (Picture: Paul Groom Photography Ltd/Sabrina Barr)

Any hopeless romantic who’s watched First Dates for the past decade will tell you straight away how dreamy it would be to walk through the restaurant’s front doors.

Just imagine being greeted by maître d’ Fred Sirieix, with Merlin Griffiths whipping you up a cocktail at the bar, moments before your heartthrob date strolls over in an awkward yet charming way… the start of what would hopefully become a whirlwind fairytale journey.

Last summer, Metro.co.uk had the chance to visit the new location of the First Dates restaurant, as filming for the Channel 4 series took place in a stunning spot in the idyllic city of Bath, The Botanist bar and restaurant.

But I got more than I bargained for, as while chatting to I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! star Fred, without skipping a beat, he tried to set me up with a chef who happened to be walking past our interview.

The Frenchman sure does have a knack for trying to spot a spark wherever he goes!

Before Fred set his sights on trying to revamp my love life, he had some sage words of wisdom for anyone who goes to the First Dates restaurant, as he dissected the different kinds of personalities that he’s witnessed over the years.

‘There are three kinds of people who come to the First Dates restaurant – you have the people who are kind of cold, warm-ish and those who are warm,’ the 51-year-old said.

‘I think that those who are warm maybe have more chance, because they’ve already made this journey within themselves and they’re ready to open up and they’re ready to be vulnerable and talk to people and listen to them.

‘What you come to realise when you are in a privileged provision position like I am on First Dates is that it’s all about inside and you as a person and what you stand for and whether you’re a kind, reliable person that people can call upon if they need to.

‘It’s finding somebody who has your back, so it’s more about what’s inside really, rather than the outer, which everybody can see, and that is very nice and very refreshing to see.’

From what I’ve seen of Fred on First Dates, I’ve always perceived him as somewhat of a love genie… something that I admitted to him when we met, and which Merlin told us was a ‘fair assessment’.

The dynamic duo of Merlin and Fred have returned (Picture: Paul Groom Photography Ltd)

Seeing the First Dates heart logo outside the restaurant immediately gave us the feels (Picture: Sabrina Barr)

‘It’s not true,’ Fred retorted… before confessing that he does – unsurprisingly – love to matchmake off-camera, having done so in the past for First Dates fan-favourite waitress Cici Coleman.

Cici explained how Fred will often just drop pearls of wisdom out of nowhere, sharing: ‘He does come up with these things – we’re just sitting having lunch, and he’ll come over and just share something and walk away. He has set me up in my personal life as well. He is genuinely very, very good at getting people together and understanding what you might need. So it’s a gift I think.’

Speaking about the match that he made for the First Dates waitress, Fred said: ‘It worked for a while.’

‘I love to do matchmaking behind the scenes. In fact, I was matchmaking one of my colleagues in production with somebody during the first weekend and it almost worked. The chemistry wasn’t quite right when they met, but it was good.’

The new location for the First Dates restuarant in Bath is simply beautiful (Picture: Sabrina Barr)

Fred has even tried to matchmake Cici (to his right) in the past (Picture: Paul Groom Photography Ltd)

Having worked at the First Dates restaurant in locations including London and Manchester, Fred noted that being in Bath – with its cobbled stones, fewer cars, and people strolling hand in hand – has a particularly ‘romantic’ feel.

‘I think it’s quite special. It’s very beautiful. And then you come into the restaurant, and it’s very beautiful. We are just completely kind of inside that love bubble,’ he said.

The Botanist is indeed as beautiful as Fred described, with the round-shaped restaurant bathed in sunlight through the windows and surrounded by a nature-inspired aesthetic.

Given its romantic atmosphere, I guess you can’t blame the maître d’ for spotting an opportunity to help a singleton (aka, me) try and find romance.

Fred saw an opportunity to try and set me up… and took it, even if it was during our interview (Picture: Sabrina Barr)

Having just been chatting about how Brits can have a reputation for being shy (‘Not all of them are shy. Some of them are shy,’ Fred said in response), he caught sight of the restaurant’s chef walking by in the middle of his walking day.

‘How are you?’ he said to his colleague, before introducing him to me.

Then under his breath, in true Fred fashion, he muttered to me: ‘Good looking, no? Are you single?’

Bursting into laughter, the TV star added: ‘And he can cook!’

Caught unawares, I attempted to continue the interview as smoothly as possible while red-faced and spluttering with the giggles.

There’s no question First Dates has a special place in the hearts of fans, with Fred vowing that it will remain on TV ‘as long as people watch it and like it’.

The wonderful Merlin whipped us up some delicious cocktails at the bar (Picture: Paul Groom)

In addition to new faces joining the cast, beloved bartender Merlin is back for the new series, who received an ‘all-clear’ result last summer after a one-year scan following his bowel cancer diagnosis.

Merlin told us: ‘I love the fact that I can get back to doing something I genuinely enjoy doing. I’m absolutely chuffed, I really am and the team have been very supportive and wonderful as well. It’s allowing us to make pretty special telly, I think.’

Fred couldn’t have spoken more highly of his friend and co-star, stating: ‘He’s got such resilience and the way he is so stoic. He’s a true stoic, and you can only know his story in the moment.

‘Merlin is a real inspiration, I think, to us all. What he’s gone through has been quite incredible, but the way he’s taken it is just, wow.’

Visiting the First Dates restaurant was always going to be a special experience, let alone doing so in the middle of a glorious summer’s day.

Seeing what it’s really like to sit in the hot seat where the daters go before and after their meals (Picture: Sabrina Barr)

It was quite surreal, however, to see just how many cameras are actually put in place and visible to the daters when they’re on their dates – 56 in total, in fact, including in the bathroom.

While the daters are, of course, fully aware that they’re being filmed with mics attached to their clothes, it was explained to us that it’s important that they forget that they’re on camera, so that their dates can be as genuine as possible.

The production crew take care to watch the 11 or 12 simultaneous dates carefully, ensuring that they don’t interrupt fascinating conversations with food being brought over to them.

Every moment of the First Dates experience is carefully thought out, from the picturesque entry adorned with flowers to look almost as though it’s a wedding aisle, to the end of the date, when the cameras continue to follow loved-up daters walking together through Bath.

If First Dates doesn’t make you believe in love, I don’t know what will.

First Dates returns tonight at 10pm on Channel 4.

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The maître d’ just can’t resist matchmaking!