​​Where is the First Dates restaurant? (original) (raw)

Better do a quick breath check and prep your best banter because a new series of First Dates is heading to Channel 4.

The popular reality dating show that gives audiences a table-eye-view at the sometimes-charming, sometimes-awkward first dinner dates of a variety of hopeful singletons has swiftly become one of Channel 4’s most popular shows since it originally launched in 2013.

Its popularity has helped make its in-house maître d' Fred Sirieix a recognised name, leading him to a memorable appearance on ITV’s I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! in late 2023.

When can you get your First Dates fix and where are the First Dates restaurants based? We’ll ditch the polite small talk and cut right to the chase.

When is the new series of First Dates out?

First Dates will return to Channel 4 for its 22nd season on Tuesday, 6 August.

Is Fred Sirieix on the new series of First Dates?

Sirieix and bartender Merlin Griffiths are back for the new batch of episodes. (BBC)

First Dates iconic maître d’ may have been enjoying a successful career outside of his date-host duties on shows like I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! and 2019’s Gordon, Gino and Fred: Road Trip.

He also helped to front the BBC’s coverage of the 2024 Olympics, where his daughter Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix won a bronze medal for Team GB.

But rest assured, he hasn’t forgotten his roots. Sirieix will return on the new series of First Dates to welcome a new collection of single folks looking for love.

He’ll be joined by some familiar First Dates faces, including bartender Merlin Griffiths, waitress Cici Coleman and hotel manager Francesca Martu from First Dates Hotel.

Other returning stars include waiters Kofi Yeboah-Mensah and Aoife Smyth and bartender Jamie McCleave.

The First Dates restaurant moved to Bath in 2023. (Channel 4)

Fancy visiting the First Dates restaurants yourself? If so, you’ll need to know where to find them and we have all the information you need.

When the show started in 2013, it set up shop in the Paternoster Chop House in Central London. Staying closed to the public while it filmed, the show’s production team kitted out the space with more than 40 cameras to discreetly capture the action, with diners given £25 towards the price of their meal.

By the time series 16 rolled around in 2020, the production fancied a change, moving First Dates to Manchester City Centre. Here, it took over The Refinery in the city’s swanky Spinningfields district.

For the show’s 21st season, which aired in 2023, First Dates moved to a new restaurant again, this time to The Botanist in Bath.

Will this be the setting for love or a venue packed with evenings we’d all rather forget? We’ll find out when the show returns.

First Dates season 22 starts on Channel 4 on 6 August