Channel 4A woman on First Dates Hotel, probably along with everyone watching the show, was shocked to discover her date was actually wearing a wig.
I know a lot of lads who panic about losing their hair. Some worryingly look at the lack of hair on their father’s head and think ‘that’ll be me in a couple of years’.
Others hold their fingers up to their forehead and admit, ‘I’ve got a seven-head, I’ll just strategically comb my hair so you can’t tell’. Or maybe that’s just my brother?
But one guy on First Dates Hotel didn’t mind admitting that he had lost the majority of his hair by his early 20s – though he could have easily kept it a secret with the incredibly realistic wig he wore.
Channel 4Paul Bowen, from Lancashire, appeared on the show on Tuesday night (September 4). The pastry chef entrepreneur described himself as a steak pie – you know what to expect; steak and gravy. He said he was looking for a girl who was also a steak pie.
Despite his steak pie-ness, as it were, Paul’s date Kimmie was left shocked when she discovered his unexpected hidden feature. There were no hairs in Paul’s steak pie.
Okay, I’ll stop with the pie metaphor now.
Paul was upfront with his revelation, and admitted early in the date that his strawberry blonde hair wasn’t actually his, saying:
There’s like, something I’ve got to admit. Shall I just tell you now because, like, just sort of get it over with now?
So my hair, is, is a wig.
Channel 430-year-old Kimmie appeared completely shocked, her face no doubt mirroring a lot of First Dates Hotel viewers:
It’s a bloody good wig, I would never have known. But by god how different was he bald ?
— Lynne Davis (@Lynne79909435) September 4, 2018
A wig!! It looks so natural on him.. what happened after?
— Jocelyn (@superjoce1309) September 5, 2018
Paul continued his story, explaining:
So like 20 years old, it was pretty much gone. So I went to this clinic and said, ‘I’m thinking about a hair transplant.’
And he was like: ‘Yeah, sorry Paul, you’re too late for a hair transplant – it’s too far gone. The only thing for you is a no-surgical hair piece.’
And I just went: ‘A f**king wig?’
The pastry chef spoke about some of his disasters in the romance world, telling one story involving him buying a drink for a girl in a bar and asking for her number, only to have her tell him ‘sorry, I don’t date bald people’.
That was not the sort of pie Paul is interested in.
However, his televised date seemed to go much more successfully, with the couple meeting up again the next day for a romantic stroll and a coffee, where Paul joked about his hair flying off in the strong wind.
Kimmie praised Paul for his honesty, saying:
I appreciated how honest you were straight away about your baldness, it’s how you should be, it was nice.
Not a lot of people are like that nowadays. You were really brave to be honest.
The couple decided to go their separate ways after the date, but left on good terms.
Paul shared a picture on Instagram of the pair, writing:
Well what a date!! Me and @kimsarahsmith had a great date hope you guys enjoyed it too . Although we didn’t continue after Italy we still remain friends so if any hot lads want to sweep this gorgeous girl off her feet get sliding into her DMs!
Hopefully Paul will find someone to be his hil-hair-ious self with in the near future.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.