A first dates star revealed a heartbreaking story about his father being murdered when he was a child, before sharing that his mother’s love story with his father now wants to make him want to settle down with his future wife.
The Channel 4 programme, led by bartender Merlin Griffiths and host Fred Sirieuxcouples singletons on blind dates, hoping to find true love.
Stand-up comedian Mani was paired up with care home owner Natasha, and the pair seemed to have got off to a perfect start, making each other laugh with their wit as they shared stories of their childhoods and families.
However, things took a tragic turn when Mani revealed more information about his father.
“When I get married I will be a strictly feminine man, this is my wife, my children, my family, my everything,” Mani told Natasha and continued, “Because my father was madly in love with my mother. ‘
“He wrote her postcards and bought her gifts, but I lost my father when I was five. My father was a huge businessman and he went into politics, and politics took him because he was murdered, so it was very hard for us.”
Mani later explained in an interview excerpt, “As children, we were told that he had been in a car accident in Pakistan,” adding, “But later I found out that he had been murdered.”
He continued: ‘My father said to my mother, ‘I’ll be back later’, and my mother said that as he walked out, I grabbed his leg and said, ‘No, you can’t go’, and then he never came . back.’
Recalling the emotional story with tears in his eyes, Mani added, “Nobody knows what really happened, it’s just a mystery.”
Mani added to Natasha, “He only loved one woman. That was my mother. And I think I’m at the point in my life where I want the same thing. It’s time it happened.’
“I talk to him every day and I think most of all he wants me to settle down now,” Mani admitted.
Opening up about his family didn’t deter Natasha though, as she revealed how much she would love to see Mani perform on stage during his comedy acts.
The couple ended their date with as much laughter as when they started, but later Natasha sadly shared that she wasn’t feeling “romantic” about the date, saying they might be “too much alike.”
“There was no spark,” she confirmed, saying she prefers “alpha males,” but “can’t deny Mani is the nicest guy.”
First Dates airs Thursdays at 10 p.m. on channel 4.
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