Hughie Maughan hoping to find love on First Dates following split from Big Brother star

Ready to mingle Hughie Maughan hoping to find love on First Dates following split from Big Brother star

Neasa Cumiskey

February 10 2021 04:53 PM

Big Brother star Hughie Maughan is set to appear on the new series of First Dates Ireland.

The Dancing with the Stars celeb will be appearing on our screens in the First Dates restaurant this spring.

Hughie is matched with Glasgow man Paul on the show just months after split from fellow Big Brother housemate Ryan Rutlidge.

The reality TV couple called off their relationship after four years together last August.

First Dates Ireland returns to RTE 2 tomorrow for its sixth series just in time for Valentine’s Day with a new cohort of hopeful singles looking for love.

Set in the Gibson Hotel, this will be the first socially distanced edition of First Dates Ireland.

The trailer shows the new precautions taken to adhere to social distancing. As per Government guidelines, the daters will wear masks inside the restaurant and sit at appropriately distanced dining tables. T

There will also be no opportunity to mingle at the bar before the date and receive a pep talk from in-house mixologist Ethan.

Joining Ethan on our screens is maître d' Mateo Saina, as well as waiters-turned-Cupids Alice, Pete, and Libby.

The gang are excited to return tot he dating show, with Mateo telling the Sunday World that “there a lot of great characters on this series, there is a lot to look forward to.”

maître d' Mateo Saina,

While the new Covid restrictions mean that the First Dates restaurant looks a little different, the singletons on the show are still determined to find romance and have fun.

As seen in the trailer, newly matched couples quickly adapt to socially distanced dating by creating new methods of intimacy from kissing through a Perspex partition to creating an old-school cup and string phone to communicate across the table.

First Dates Ireland returns to RTE 2 this Thursday 11th February at 9.30pm.