The Blind Date couple who married in front of millions

Unbeknownst to her, Sue’s friends sent her a letter saying she wanted to be on the biggest dating show on television.

Alex was at work when a colleague approached us holding papers in the air. Instead of auditing payroll, they spent the afternoon filling out application forms.

It’s been 40 years since TV juggernaut Blind Date first aired and Sue and Alex Tatham became the first couple to meet and marry on the show in a ceremony broadcast to nearly 17 million people.

They both said they didn’t go on the show looking for love, but what they found was love and they have been married for 34 years.

Blind Date was followed by a number of modern dating shows that followed a similar concept; these include Love is Blind, First Dates and even Love Island.

Now Blind Date has been “reimagined for a contemporary audience,” according to the streaming site, and will be re-launching on Disney+.

So, how successful can a blind date be?

In 1985, Cilla Black hosted the pilot episode of a shiny new show from America inspired by a concept known as “The Dating Game”.

She continued to dominate Saturday night TV, where millions of viewers tuned in to watch her choose a date from three suitors hidden behind a screen.

When Sue appeared on Blind Date, finding a boyfriend wasn’t her priority.

“Because everything was so new – the birth of reality TV,” he said. “It was exciting and that’s why I really wanted to go, I wanted to see how everything was. Was it as amazing as it looked? No!”

Alex said Blind Date was “a very hot TV show at the time. So if someone said ‘Who wants to be on Love Island’ it would be a bit like now?”

About six months after applying, Sue and Alex were called for an audition; Sue to Birmingham, Alex to London.

“He asked me, ‘If you were a fruit, what would you be?’ They asked questions like: Sue remembered. “What kind of animal would you be?”

Both Alex and Sue were offered a place to appear on the programme, but Alex was unable to make it. Sue’s location was also rescheduled.

Sue said that she had spent the day with the other two girls that Alex would have chosen, that she knew them well and that neither she nor Alex were allowed to have friends in the audience in case it influenced their decisions.

He also recalled that the crew scrambled to ensure that he and Alex did not bump into each other before filming; This meant diving into a closet as Alex walked down the hall.

“Great, I thought; this is a real surprise!”

“It was a long old day but exciting. And Cilla wandered around a bit,” said Sue.

“I’m coming with the curlers, I’m relaxing you,” Alex added.

The other women Sue and Alex would choose were given their questions in advance.

They wrote responses that were scanned and edited. “One of them, which definitely wasn’t me, was a question about going to Australia and he said, ‘I want you to put sunscreen on places I can’t reach.’

“And they said no, you can’t say that; this came out! It just shows maybe how much of a change there has been in attitudes today,” Sue said.

According to the official Cilla Black website, British television watchers were initially concerned about Blind Date’s sexual connotations, but were reassured by Cilla’s involvement.

Alex recalled that the “television illusion” was quickly shattered when she saw the sliding door separating the selector and the three suitors on the set.

“Very stylish looking sliding door; basically a guy pulling a piece of cardboard from behind.”

“When I picked Sue, the West Midlands number two, I had no idea why I was doing it,” Alex said. “It was just eenie meeny miny moe.”

In the program, the newly matched couple randomly chose their first date event. Sue and Alex threw a medieval banquet in Ireland. The couple said they were placed in hotels 5 miles away from each other.

“At the end of the date we said we wanted to go to a nightclub,” Sue said. “We got along very well.”

However, when they asked the production team, the answer was no, the date was over and they had to return to their separate hotels.

“I guess he’s being filmed getting into the same room as you these days!” Alex said. “This just shows the massive shift in reality TV.”

If a couple seemed to be getting along well, Cilla would ask: “Do I need to buy a new hat?” In Alex and Sue’s case it did; A clever blue trick.

“When we first said we were getting married, they were very calm about it,” Alex said, talking about meetings with the cast on Blind Date. “They said, ‘Oh, we’d love to make a video of you leaving the church.'”

Eventually, he said, there were numerous television crews, police and thousands of people outside the church.

Sue and Alex got married in a special episode called ‘Blind Date Wedding of the Year’ which aired on London Weekend Television.

“Imagine being nervous about giving a best man or groom speech in front of 300 of your best friends,” Alex said. “So imagine doing this in front of millions.

“It was a great day, it allowed us to invite almost everyone we met to our wedding which helped.

“They wore the brightest clothes they could because you wanted to get your face on TV. It looked like a really good edition of Songs of Praise.”

“We found we had a lot in common,” Alex said. “I think like any couple, when you grow together, you’ll find that you actually start to share a set of values.

“Frank honesty is the best thing,” Sue said. “And be gentle.”

“When you have someone with similar values, like a boyfriend or girlfriend, that’s a really good foundation for any relationship, no matter how you meet,” Alex said.

“Love of family, I think that’s a really important factor. Caring for every part of family and friends. The ambition to get ahead in life, the joy of going out and having a good time.”

“She is sensitive and kind, a wonderful mother and yet extremely beautiful. In fact, most people fall in love with her, so it wasn’t hard for me. I’m lucky I chose her.”

“To this day, we say we love each other very much, and we still do.”

Additional reporting by Kath Paddison