According to First Dater Princess Naomi, you can't find love in the club. Luckily for her, the First Dates matchmakers had scheduled her in for a perfect match the very next day.
Nigerian-born Princess, who lives in Dublin, was one of tonight's crop of romantic hopefuls, and unbeknownst to her, she had already charmed her date before they even got their pre-dinner drink.
Ireland might be a small place, but remembering a passerby from the club is usually beyond most of our abilities. Not for Omo from Cork, however, who instantly recognised Princess from a nightclub he'd been in the night before their big date.
"She came in but she really caught my attention, but she just disappeared so I didn't actually get to talk to her at all", Omo told producers after their date.
Princess made it clear from the outset that she has high standards, noting that all of her siblings have similarly royal names - Princess Margaret, Princess Mercy and Prince Michael.
"Usually I like to tell people that my dad owns a country off Africa, and they believe because like, how you gonna know?"
So it was initially a red flag for her that Omo didn't remember what she was wearing the previous night.
Still, the couple quickly struck up conversation, but not before encountering their first roadblock: football team loyalties.
"I feel like I can tell kind of a lot about a guy from the football team he supports", she said. When Omo revealed he supports Arsenal she had a succinct opinion formed: "Either they're extremely loyal or excessive cheaters."
They recovered from the shock fast, connecting over their shared Nigerian heritage and music. Omo noted how his family moved to Ireland over 20 years ago "looking for a better life", though he was raised with a deep appreciation for his Yoruba background.
"To be part of a new sort of diversity, it's quite amazing", he said, adding about his Yoruba roots: "I'm grateful for that because in Ireland there's so much diversity it's very very easy to lose your ethnicity, your language."
What are the chances you end up on #FirstDatesIRL with someone you saw in the club the night before?🕺🏼
— RTÉ2 (@RTE2) January 14, 2024
Catch #FirstDatesIRL this Thursday at 9:35pm | @rteplayer pic.twitter.com/OJwcfr99FA
Not content to make it easy for him, Princess noted there was a "stigma" attached to Yoruba men, but added that she liked their "charisma".
As for Princess, she'd kissed her fair amount of frogs and was looking for a good man.
"I'm envious but in a good way of people who are in relationships now because the streets are cold", she joked. "There's some lessons out of it and some good times but like, the streets are cold."
"Some guys would take me on a date, open the door for you, be a nice guy, spend all this money. When they realise that you're not going to like, get in bed with them, they just disappear", she added.
By the end of their date it didn't look like Omo was going to be disappearing any time soon, as the couple couldn't take their eyes off one another.
As for whether Omo will change his football team for Princess? That's a work in progress.
Watch First Dates on Thursdays at 9:30pm on RTÉ2.
