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'First Dates' relocating up north after seven years in London

Fred Sirieix is the maître d' of the 'First Dates' restuarant (Credit: Channel 4)
Fred Sirieix is the maître d' of the 'First Dates' restuarant (Credit: Channel 4)

First Dates is moving up north, as Channel 4 announced it is relocating the dating show to Manchester.

The reality show which follows single hopefuls share a meal on a blind date in a top restaurant has been filmed in London since it began in 2013.

French Maître d' Fred Sirieix who helps viewers get to know the participants by chatting to them, and shares his own musings on love will be moving with the show to a new restuarant in Manchester.

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He tweeted: “I [heart] Manchester so much. Can’t wait.

First Dates has been filmed at Paternoster Chop House. in the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral in the City of London for the past seven years and 15 series.

It is not yet known which Manchester restaurant will be used for the dating show.

Restaurant group D&D - which owns Paternoster Chop House - also owns 20 Stories in Manchester’s financial disctrict, Spinningfields.

The Manchester Evening News reports that 20 Stories has been ruled out as a location because it lacked the capacity to house the show's backstage production facilities.

Other potential venus are believed to be St Peter's Square and the Corn Exchange.

Sirieix has filmed the last two series of BBC Two show My Million Pound Menu in Manchester. The first was filmed at The Kitchens in Spinningfields, while the second was shot in a vacant former Byron Hamburgers unit at the Corn Exchange.

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Madonna Benjamin, Commissioning Editor at Channel 4, said: “The new restaurant location and regional production base provide exciting opportunities for the series.”

Leanne Klein, managing director of production company Twenty Twenty, said viewers could expect, “a few exciting new tweaks to the much loved format.”

First Dates won a Bafta award for best reality show in 2016.