Trekkie Lee from Dun Laoghaire was looking for a match that was out of this world, and when he stepped into the First Dates restaurant, he looked set to get just that.
Lee was one of a batch of romantic hopefuls dining in the First Dates restaurant on tonight's episode. Fed up with "short-term dating" and looking for something more serious, he came hoping to meet his very own bearish "Benny Andersson from ABBA" who has a "nerdy passion" like him.
Well, he was destined to hit the right notes with Eurovision fanatic Petteri from Finland the moment he walked in the door.
Now living in Galway, Petteri told producers that he had "fallen in love with Ireland" and has been here for seven years. That said, he still finds it hard to meet partners in his community.
"I don't go to places where I would be chatted up because Galway's such a tiny place, we only have one gay bar", he said. Add to that the fact that he can find it hard to tell the difference between "interest and romantic interest", and he has his work cut out for him.
Petteri wasted no time, however, in getting to the heart of matters on the date. Flagging that this could be "second date discussion", he revealed that he already has his best man chosen for his wedding.
"I start building these dreams and ideas and then they're not part of that process because it happens inside of my head and then I bring them along at some point, like, I have this whole life planned for us", he told producers.
"The only thing missing is the husband", he quipped to Lee, who playfully pointed to his ring-less finger and went all in on the fantasy.
Over desserts, the pair discussed their coming out stories. Lee's parents were supportive when he came out, and assured him that they were still his family, nothing would change that. For Petteri, however, it was "not the same".
"In my early 20s I wasn't out so there were lots of people who knew me when I was still in the closet so then there were people who knew me when I was coming out, and then there are people who only know me since I had come out. There's all these different perceptions of me and then I had to kind of manage all of that."
When he came out to his mum, he said, she "didn't take it well initially". The pair fell out to the point that Petteri didn't know if he'd be welcome home for Christmas.
"It took months of a really tense relationship before we managed to get back to a certain level of trust."
In contrast, his brother also came out five years later and his mother processed it much faster.
By the time the pair sat down in front of producers for their verdict, Lee was fully on board with Petteri's romantic plans, asking them, "Do you want to come to our wedding?"
As they continued talking about best men and stag parties, it was clear that for Trekkie Lee and romantic Petteri, they would "live long and prosper" together.
