Melissa from Kleve complains about her hometown

“Kleve is not the prettiest place.” Has 24-year-old Melissa made many friends in her hometown? Well, the legal officer was not on TV on Wednesday evening to promote the Swan City. After all, “First Dates”, the dating show on Vox, is about falling in love.

Melissa’s blind date is called Rene, he is 29 years old, works as an assistant construction manager and comes from Leverkusen – the city of the German champions. When it comes to football, the two quickly discover that they have something in common after greeting each other. “It would be important to me if he was also interested in football,” says Melissa, who, despite being only 1.63 meters tall, stands between the goal posts in her free time as a goalkeeper for an amateur team. In this respect, Rene fits her profile. He doesn’t play himself, but he likes to watch football.

Another plus point: the 29-year-old brought flowers. “I’ve never received flowers from a man before.” I thought that was sweet. Overall, it was very well-groomed and polite. “I had a positive impression of him as a person,” says Melissa, who lives a proud 115 kilometers away from her date. But that’s no problem for Rene. The construction manager is “enthusiastic” about Melissa after just a few minutes. He likes her “beautiful hands” and her “nice smile.”

The date also started well and the two got on well at the table later on. Melissa just had a few problems ordering her food. “I want this, but I can’t pronounce it,” says the clever girl, pointing to a line on the chalked menu. “Tagliarini.” “First Dates” presenter Roland Trettl helps her pronounce it and accepts the whole thing with a smile.

When it comes to food, Melissa and Rene discover another thing they have in common: their aversion to fresh tomatoes. “If they’re processed, it’s OK.” “But I think the pure tomatoes are really bad,” says Rene. Melissa agrees and is happy to have found another “tomato hater” in Rene. “I haven’t heard many people say that they don’t like tomatoes.” So that works for us.”

What doesn’t really work between the two singles, however, is communication. Unfortunately, football and hostility towards tomatoes are the only two topics on which the date partners really “match”. “We had a few pauses in the conversation. “I didn’t really know what to ask him either,” says Melissa with a conscientious disappointment in her voice.

Despite the bumpy conversation, Rene can imagine a second date with the woman from Cleves. But the 24-year-olds ultimately say no. “We can meet again on a friendly basis, but I’m not up for another date.” “The gut feeling just wasn’t there,” says Melissa.