After years helping singletons find love, the First Dates Hotel waitress tells us how she met her own Mr Right during lockdown

INTERVIEW: EMILY HORAN

COMPILED BY ROSIE SMITH. PHOTOS: BLY RICHARDS. CHANNEL 4. CICI COLEMAN. ELLIE KURTTZ. ITV. RELIANCE ENTERTAINMENT PRODUCTIONS 6 LTD

‘I’ve learnt self-love in a completely different way, so I don’t need constant reassurance from other people any more’

Sunshine, poolside cocktails and beautiful views of southern Italy - it’s a scene many of us are dreaming of as we keep our fingers crossed for a post-lockdown holiday. But for First Dates Hotel star Cici Coleman, it’s all in a day’s work.

“We’re all buzzy and happy and bouncing off each other and we really feel like we’re on holiday,” the on-screen waitress tells hello!, as the sixth series of the hit dating show - a spin-off from the UK-set First Dates - made its debut last week. “The sun makes people in a higher state of who they are, including us waiting staff.” Cici and the much-loved team of matchmakers - including maître d’ Fred Sirieix and cocktail connoisseur Merlin Griffiths - jetted off to the Italian town of Telese Terme for five weeks in the summer of 2019 to help singletons from across Britain find love.