What a surprise, a Black person on TV you don't like.

Anyway, waiting staff have managed to annoy me tonight.

Waitress nibbing in on Blackwood's date was poor on two counts.
They 'should' be there to chivvy the date along if it's dieing or get mid-date reports for us when one of daters is off in the toilet, this was neither of those.
It was an embarrassing bit of fandom.
Secondly Soaps are filmed weeks in advance (6 weeks for EE IIRC), so it's not unlikely he can't remember if he was on Friday's episode or what happened, it's gone, he's working on the next script.

Where's Scarlett Moffat?

I think they should have an extra program online that shows all the bits of the Maitre d, the waiter and waitress and the barman and remove them from the main show. Then we can have a choice whether to watch them.

I know what my choice will be.

'Forest Gump' went all out with the champers, fair play it seemed he was on the right track as they both seemed to like each other.

Esther's date succumbing to Irish habit of mischief at the end, shame we didn't get to see more the date, what they found attractive about each other.
I'm guessing older First daters are thin on the ground as they had to get someone from Ireland to fill her brief.

I was amused by how a lot of the celebrities' daters didn't even know who they were - understandable with a C-list TOWIE person I guess, but unfortunate when you're on EastEnders...

Esther Ranzen harping on about how idyllic her life was with her husband, totally ignoring the fact she wrecked his first wife's life. Yes, I know it takes two, but there was always something uncomfortable about their getting together.

Surely Desmond Wilcox did that when he made the choice to 1) have an affair and 2) leave to marry his mistress.

Well, at least the fact that she knocked him back might have temporarily shrunk the size of his ego! No doubt that was ultra humiliating to him and didn't seem even to occur to him that she might do that! Ha!

Well, at least the fact that she knocked him back might have temporarily shrunk the size of his ego! No doubt that was ultra humiliating to him and it didn't seem to have even occurred to him that she might do that! Ha!

....not forgetting wrecking Bernard Braden's life too with the help of Desmond Wilcox:

http://www.digplanet.com/wiki/Barbara_Kelly

Showbiz is show business...not the same thing at all as what takes place in personal relationships. The article doesn't say why Braden was so hostile towards Esther, i.e. did she have any influence over the BBC when it replaced his programme with hers or was Braden just angry/jealous?

I feel it would be hard to cast a cold eye on Esther, given her humane involvements with Childline and setting up the charity The Silver Line for the elderly. I realise she had an affair with Desmond whilst he was still married but it was no meaningless fling...indeed the affair went on for 8 years and he eventually married her. The quality of her marriage to Desmond came out during this programme....they clearly shared a love that went on for 4 decades. I think she is quite lovely.

Don'tcha just LOVE the way the 'other woman' always gets the blame when a married man has an affair?! I guess it suits the cheated-on wife to label the other woman as a nasty manipulative old slag who tried to steal her hubby, who is of course, not in the LEAST bit to blame! I mean, it wasn't HIS fault because that horrible woman did all the running, didn't he???. *rollseyes*

Yes, it suits the wife to not admit her husband is a lying cheating scumbag, who cared more about his own selfish needs more than her and their children!

Some people need to open their eyes.....

Well said.

Thanks Amy.

Sorry you must have been watching a different program, because it appeared to me they'd already ironed out the fact that they weren't going on a second date and why, before the post date interview.

BIB We didn't see the whole date, so we don't know what she 'totally ignored', then again she was talking about her life and trying to move on in light of her marriage, the context was clear.

If you want to lever in a 'pop' at the woman, just go straight to it instead of trying to accuse of a lie of omission as an excuse.

The dates seem to be better matched in the "Abroad" version, or is that just me?

I must have missed that brief moment then.

I didn't notice that....just that the "Abroad" version had more run of the mill/duller people but then I do gravitate to the unusual/quirky kind of personality. (I would settle for more lively/animated characters being shown though!)

Better matched on the basis of how many programs and how many second dates?
I'd say the UK version has got better than when it first started, the stunt casting seems to have stopped and people generally get along and have a nice time, even if there isn't a second date.
It's while since we've had a 'polo neck' incident.
Although we don't see all the dates.

I watched the one on this evening on E4, the Ozzie version.
I really couldn't 'read' any of the daters at all, none of them 'appealed' to me either, couldn't care less if they had a second date.
I just want to see nice people having a nice time, which is what I get a lot of the time from the UK version, don't know why this isn't working for me.

Again, the waiting staff getting too involved IMO.
Beardy Irish bloke, the Irish waitress was bunnying far too much with him, cracking funnies and ribbing him.
Offered his date a toothpick, which his date took as indication that she needed one.

Yes, just seems to me there's a higher proportion of dates who either stay in contact or go on a second date than don't hit it off at all.

But it may just be an illusion or my memory remembers the successful ones more than that the unsuccessful ones.

Bugger me, yet again the waitress gets all yappy and like a punter on the street and starts blurting on about the celeb and why they're a celeb.

Poor, poor form, she needs a talking to, I'd hope real waiting staff wouldn't behave that way.
Fred 'where's pudsey' OFFS Fred.

Scarlett, didn't 'get' the magic trick at all, i.e. what the actual 'trick' was

I also doubt many men would be happy about their date dancing with the Maitre de.

I hope that one day one of the dates will tell the maitre de, waitress or waiter to leave them alone.

I think the waitress is told to do that if the date doesn't get who the zeleb is.

I'm sure someone must have shot them a few hard stares, but that's not going to make the edit.

The dancing wouldn't be a problem in and of itself, if it was a lively boozy place, it's the interruption, that irks mostly, it seems the bloke was mid flow, as he had to pick up his thread again 'oh where was I, oh my mate in Australia...'
If there was a lull then maybe Fred should have chipped in about her dancing or something else non Gogglebox related, then leave having given them something to talk about.

They're there to chivvy things along or get the mid date reports, apart from that stand at the back and keep schtum.

I enjoyed Merlin the barman on his phone catching up on celeb news, I'm guessing his summary was 'what a load of old tut'