When Tinder and Bumble haven't worked out and you haven't stumbled across the love of your life at Tesco, what can you do to find true romance? Well, Precious Beattie signed up for The Singles' Table, which saw her and other singletons go to strangers' weddings in the hope of finding the person of their dreams.
The new ITVBe dating show, which started last month, is described as a 'heartwarming and entertaining snapshot of what it’s like to be single and looking for love in 2022'.
The programme sends five single women to find love in the most romantic of settings because 'every wedding has a singles table'. Across one summer of love, each episode sees the girls invited to a different stranger’s wedding by the bride and groom as they're keen for their own single mates to find ‘the one’.
"I'm a single pringle and at the same time, I just wanted to give it a try," Precious told the Manchester Evening News. "My mum got married so I'm thinking I want to get married," she added. "My mum doesn't like any guy I've dated."
The sports therapist, who lived in Manchester before moving to London, says attending the weddings of people she doesn't know wasn't a weird experience. "For me, it wasn't weird because in my hometown, back in Nigeria, you would literally get invited to strangers' weddings," Precious said.
"Your friend would be like 'ah there's someone having a wedding,' and you'd go literally knowing you don't know anyone. So for me, it made the experience because back home it is something we would do as a normal thing for us. So it wasn't bad, it's just that you don't know what to expect, you don't know the guys, but for me, I had just an amazing experience.
"It was nerve-wracking but at the same time, I do modelling as well so it wasn't so bad. English isn't my first language so sometimes it comes across I'm talking too quietly or struggling with words. It wasn't so bad but we were literally put on the spot."
There are, however, moments viewers don't get to see on-screen at weddings are, after all, real. "Everything you see is how it goes but because it's a wedding, and we don't want the whole thing to just be filming us, sometimes we'd pause the filming and allow the bride and groom to have their own private time with their friends and family."
Unfortunately for Precious, she didn't find love on the show. But she felt that The Singles' Table was about more than just finding a life partner. "I feel like it's not just about love, it's actually also about finding yourself," the 23-year-old said. "With me, I feel like I've actually learnt so much about myself and knowing my own worth as well - my standards, the things I like and the things I don't like as well. I think it's had a huge impact on me personally. I have discovered myself a lot.
Asked what she had learned, she said: "Usually I don't know how to say no to people. I feel like I always have to be a people pleaser so for me, being on the show, I've learned how, even if I come across rude, to say how I feel." Precious shared how she felt able to tell someone they 'weren't for her' without trying to be nice to save the awareness later. "To be able to say that I was just so proud of myself."
And while The Singles' Table didn't work out, Precious does have her eye on another ITV2 show. "Love Island," she responded instantly when asked if she'd go on any other show in a bid to find love. Sharing why, she said: "The majority of people who have actually gone on it have been successful in terms of finding the right person and it's not just about doing it to improve my brand but to also put different values and points of views across to the audience."
She added: "I'm not going to be a boring person. What you see is what you get."
The Singles’ Table airs on ITVBe on Tuesday at 9pm o r available to watch on the ITV Hub.
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