Musician Ben from Dublin has seen lightning strike before, but could the lightning strike of attraction be in store for him in the First Dates restaurant?
The self-described "spontaneous and chirpy" 23-year-old told Neil the barman his story of seeing the "exhilarating" strike, looking miles away from being nervous as he awaited his date for the night. Being open and vulnerable comes easy to Ben, it seems, who said: "Life is like a box of chocolates. You can see what you're going to get by looking at the packet."
He happens to know exactly what he's looking for, too: someone mischievous who can go "goblin mode" with him.
Enter fine art photography student and self-confessed ‘weirdo’ Kyra (24) from Limerick, looking for a partner who can be "unapologetically themselves". Kyra revealed how her parents met, a "crazy love story" that could only set high standards when it comes to knowing what you want.
"They met in Dingle in the 70s. My dad was on a lads' holiday and my mum was down from Limerick with her gals. I think they were both engaged at the time, then left their engagements because they weren't too happy. And then they wrote letters for six months and then 30 days after being in each other's company, they got married."
Twenty-seven years on, they're still going strong.
The pair immediately connected over their many tattooes and having had upbringings that saw them move a lot. They were soon opening up about great loves, heartbreaks and coming to know who they are. Soon, they learned they were both bisexual.
"I'm going to be honest, I've never gone on a date with a guy, ever", Ben told the cameras. "I'm like, what is it, bi panic, when it's like, you can be spontaneous and flirtatious when it comes to this one gender, but when it comes to the other, you're like, oh. Oh..."
He continued: "I'm only newly bi as well, within the last year and so I'm still a little afraid but I'm always open."
As for Kyra, she said: "I'm very much a, I am what I am, it means as much to me as what my favourite colour is, if that makes sense.
"I come across extremely confident to males so I find myself a little bit more comfortable with that gender dynamic, but as soon as there's a pretty girl who finds me pretty", she's all in, she said.
"I do think that's perhaps because I haven't explored that side of myself", she told Ben.
Their date continued swimmingly, with the pair surmising that they'd already met in Limerick not too long before the date. Though they agreed to meet again for another date, their soul bond turned out to be more along the lines of friendship.
Watch First Dates at 9:30pm on Thursdays on RTÉ2.
