Meet the cast of Young, Free and Single
E4's new interactive dating show follows the antics of six men and women trying to find 'The One'. RadioTimes.com met the singletons to find out what floats their boat...
Watching some of the match-ups on Channel 4's First Dates fail to launch was cringeworthy enough (in a good way), but E4's new interactive dating show could make for some truly agonising moments.
Young, Free and Single: Live will follow the first dates of six singletons sharing a flat in East London while they search for 'The One'. Throughout the week they'll each go on one date, with every painful pause, bungled kiss and follow-up text recorded on camera.
Steve Jones, the show's host and love guru, will then scrutinise their dating behaviour and offer advice while viewers (yes, you) will also be able to give feedback via Twitter. Oh and if you fancy one of the contestants, you can volunteer to be a potential new love interest...
RadioTimes.com met the six contestants to find out why they're doing this very public dating show, what makes them tick and what they think might happen...
Laura
Age: 29
Occupation: Dancer and actress
From: London (originally Leeds)
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Why are you doing this show?
"It's my last year in my 20s! I've had a wild year and done absolutely everything I've wanted to do and now I genuinely do want to find somebody. I want to find love. I downloaded Happn [dating app] and within two weeks I had over 2,000 charms [how you show you're interested in someone] so it went off the scale… and I don’t ever go through it because there’s too many people to go through. I feel like I've got so much choice I genuinely don’t know what to go with."
What's your ideal date?
"I think it’s really nice when a guy’s romantic. Just a candelit dinner on the beach, the sea… that would be a dream date. Once I was on this amazing date in LA but the guy had no chat at all. The waiter came in and he was the hottest waiter I've seen in my life, so I spent the rest of the day trying to give him my number.
"I love Tom Hardy, he's so fit. I'd never ask a guy out but if I saw someone I fancied I'd make a beeline for them and I'd stand in front of them until they noticed me and I'd make them ask me."
Lana
Age: 25
Occupation: Glamour agency talent booker
From: Surrey
Why are you doing this show?
"I just got bored of spending so much time with my cat and I was really close to cat lady territory. And my cat decided that my leg is more tasty than Go Cat [shows RadioTimes.com a nasty gash on her leg] so now I definitely have to move on and find a boyfriend who hopefully won't bite me.
"I don’t really date. I'm from a small town in Dorset and everyone just knows each other so you meet potential boyfriends through friends and you know the lowdown already. In London I don’t like that initial thing where you don’t know them. So many dates I’ve last-minute been like ‘no not coming!’
"Once it was New Year's Eve and I saw a guy across the room who I thought was attractive so I was doing a really sexy walk, and then I slipped on a puddle and face-planted the floor. But he still asked for my number... so there's my move!"
What's your ideal date?
"I love a bit of Channing Tatum. If it was with the right person, I could happily have a kebab in the park. It’s about chemistry, not about being wined and dined. I’m not going to cry if someone takes me to a nice restaurant with loads of flowers but it’s not about that."
Alex
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
From: Birmingham
Why are you doing this show?
When I go out everyone has the perception that I speak to a lot of guys, go out with a lot of guys but literally it's the complete opposite – my phone doesn't even buzz.
"It was my first date the other week. We’re so used to being able to speak to guys on a night out where you’ve got your friends for backup. Dating seems scarier. I’ve just finished my A Levels so this is a big difference, I've gone from sitting in class everyday to being in a reality TV show."
What's your ideal date?
"Something with Brooklyn Beckham"
Meet the guys on the next page...
