Fred Sirieix

First Dates is Channel 4's BAFTA-winning TV series which pairs singletons in search of love. Its loyal audience has doubled since first broadcast, peaking at three million for its special episodes, and drawing a huge social media response. In the last two years over 100,000 people have applied to be on the show. The fifth series returns to Channel 4 in September 2016 and will run through to early 2017.

Fred Sirieix is Maitre'd of the First Dates restaurant, where he welcomes the show's singletons and calms their nerves before the most stressful meal of their lives. He's also general manager at the Michelin star Galvin at Windows, and creator of hospitality-training programme The Art of Service. He grew up in Limoges in France, before moving to London in 1992 and working in the city's best restaurants with names such as Michel Roux and Chris Galvin.