Alex on Zoe<\/p>\n
What were you hoping for?<\/strong> First impressions?<\/strong> What did you talk about?<\/strong> Most awkward moment?<\/strong> Good table manners?<\/strong> Best thing about Zoe?<\/strong> Would you introduce Zoe to your friends?<\/strong> Describe Zoe in three words<\/strong> What do you think Zoe made of you?<\/strong> Did you go on somewhere?<\/strong> And \u2026 did you kiss?<\/strong> If you could change one thing about the evening, what would it be?<\/strong> Marks out of 10?<\/strong> Would you meet again?<\/strong> Q&AFancy a blind date?Show<\/p>\n Blind date is Saturday\u2019s dating column: every week, two What questions will I be asked?<\/b> Can I choose who I match with?<\/b> Can I pick the photograph?<\/b> What personal details will appear?<\/b> How should I answer?<\/b> Will I see the other person\u2019s answers? Will you find me The One? Can I do it in my home town? How to apply<\/b> Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n Zoe on Alex<\/p>\n What were you hoping for?<\/strong> First impressions?<\/strong> What did you talk about?<\/strong> Most awkward moment?<\/strong> Good table manners?<\/strong> Best thing about Alex?<\/strong> Would you introduce Alex to your friends?<\/strong> Describe Alex in three words<\/strong> What do you think Alex made of you?<\/strong> Did you go on somewhere?<\/strong> And \u2026 did you kiss?<\/strong> If you could change one thing about the evening, what would it be?<\/strong> Marks out of 10?<\/strong> Would you meet again?<\/strong> Zoe and Alex ate at Fire & Wine<\/a>, London W1. Fancy a blind date? Email blind.date@theguardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alex on Zoe What were you hoping for?At best, to meet my future wife. At worst, free food…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":311322,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,12,14],"class_list":{"0":"post-311321","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-stories"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114957944347574787","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
At best, to meet my future wife. At worst, free food and a fun story.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t realise Sabrina Carpenter had dyed her hair brown! Zoe immediately had a warm and lovely energy about her, which helped ease my nerves.<\/p>\n
Voice notes, why Normal People should be classified as a horror, and our carefully curated funeral playlists.<\/p>\n
Zoe had a horror run with public transport, so I had a few extra minutes to intensely scrutinise the wine list.<\/p>\n
Impeccable.<\/p>\n
She just radiates positivity, and I got the sense she lights up every room she enters. She can also deliver a killer rendition of Madonna\u2019s Like A Prayer.<\/p>\n
In a heartbeat.<\/p>\n
Caring, gorgeous, passionate.<\/p>\n
Well, she did say Eddie Redmayne should play me in a movie, so I like to think that was a good thing! Or maybe she was just being generous \u2026<\/p>\n
We stayed until the restaurant closed, then went on to a pub for karaoke.<\/p>\n
Well, when the karaoke host informed the crowd that it was our first date and then got everyone to chant \u201ckiss, kiss, kiss\u201d, we couldn\u2019t let the people down \u2026<\/p>\n
If I have to be extremely picky, it would be the option to have orange wine at the restaurant.<\/p>\n
10.<\/p>\n
Absolutely.<\/p>\n
\nstrangers are paired up for dinner and drinks, and then spill the beans
\nto us, answering a set of questions. This runs, with a photograph we
\ntake of each dater before the date, in Saturday magazine (in the
\n UK) and online at\u00a0theguardian.com<\/a>\u00a0every Saturday. It\u2019s been running since 2009 \u2013 you can read all about how we put it together here<\/a>.<\/p>\n
We
\n ask about age, location, occupation, hobbies, interests and the type of
\n person you are looking to meet. If you do not think these questions
\ncover everything you would like to know, tell us what\u2019s on your mind.<\/p>\n
No,
\n it\u2019s a blind date! But we do ask you a bit about your interests,
\npreferences, etc \u2013 the more you tell us, the better the match is likely
\nto be.<\/p>\n
No, but don’t worry: we’ll choose the nicest ones.<\/p>\n
Your first name, job and age.<\/p>\n
Honestly
\n but respectfully. Be mindful of how it will read to your date, and that
\n Blind date reaches a large audience, in print and online.<\/p>\n
<\/b>No. We may edit yours and theirs for a range of reasons, including length, and we may ask you for more details.<\/p>\n
<\/b>We\u2019ll try! Marriage! Babies!<\/p>\n
<\/b>Only if it\u2019s in the UK. Many of our applicants live in London, but we would love to hear from people living elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Email blind.date@theguardian.com<\/a><\/p>\n
Two words: a boyfriend.<\/p>\n
Super cute. Did he lie about his age though? What\u2019s your skincare regime, Alex?<\/p>\n
Our hopes for the date (Alex was looking for an outdoorsy golden retriever girly. I was mildly alarmed, as I\u2019m more of an indoor black cat kind of gal). Our dream festival headliners, his frat party days in Colorado, the GC (Gemma Collins).<\/p>\n
The whole crowd cheering \u201ckiss kiss kiss\u201d after our karaoke performance of the song from Dirty Dancing.<\/p>\n
Very polite, friendly to the staff, didn\u2019t hog a single dish, and kept my wine glass full.<\/p>\n
Total gent and a great conversationalist.<\/p>\n
Of course!<\/p>\n
Warm, energetic, spontaneous.<\/p>\n
He gave me 5\/5 for karaoke \u2013 I\u2019ve got the X factor, guys!<\/p>\n
A pub\/drag-karaoke bar where Alex tried his first blackcurrant vodka soda.<\/p>\n
Yes \u2013 we pecked on stage after much heckling from the crowd (and queen).<\/p>\n
The temperature \u2013 I was boiling.<\/p>\n
8.<\/p>\n
Yes, but maybe more as friends.<\/p>\n