Get ready for your evenings to heat up as First Dates returns to our screens!
Season 11 of the beloved dating series continued tonight with eight hopeful romantics taking their seats at the Gibson Hotel, looking for love, romance, connection and at the very least a nice meal.
Heartfelt confessions are par for the course on the popular show, with guests opening up about past struggles, insecurities and their hopes and dreams to the cameras and to their dates, and tonight's episode was no different.
Striding into the restaurant, Liam, 66, from Dublin, told producers that he was looking for "compassion and cuddles", having come out of a marriage several years previous.
He was paired with vivacious and outgoing Esther, 64, from Arklow, who delighted in being given a box of chocolates by her date - much better than the bag of fish a former date gave her!
The pair hit it off quickly, discussing past relationships, hobbies and even wayward dentures. When Liam brought up his plan to do the Camino solo, however, it led him to discuss how he overcame alcoholism.*
"My life only started when I gave up drinking", he told the cameras. "It'll be 20 years ago this year since I gave it up, and it's the best thing I ever did in my life. My greatest achievement."
He continued that the decision came from realising that he "wasn't happy". "I was far from happy, and I used to go to the pub for three or four pints, and that was the story of my life; I never left after three or four pints."
He explained that the habit put a strain on relationships when he was younger. "I'd go out with people, and it wouldn't last long, and they'd all tell me I'm a lovely person... 'but'. They never told me the 'but', but I am convinced now that 'but' was I was an alcoholic."
"When I got married, I found a girl that loved me, and I was afraid to let her go, because I believed that nobody else was going to love me. And that's part of the reason I married that girl."
He reflected on how he felt incredibly insecure in himself, and put it all "down to alcoholism".
In the years since, and especially since being on his own, he says he's "learned to like" himself.
It was clear that Esther liked him too, as the pair agreed to meet again after their first date - hopefully with no more fish in a bag for Esther!
* If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can visit Ask About Alcohol.
