Fred Sirieix hosts the latest series of First Dates Hotel, starting on Thursday at 9pm on Channel 4.
Here, he answers our questions…
How are you coping with the lockdown?
Every morning I say to myself: “I am happy to be alive”.
I’m happy inside my head – I have happy thoughts. I’m lucky, nobody in my family has been affected, or my friends.
I’ve got food on my table and when I go to the toilet, it flushes and hot water actually runs – and a lot of people in this country and around the world don’t have that.
Being so busy, this period must be a real change of pace?
It makes me laugh when people say: “Oh, Fred, you’ve got to have more balance in your life”.
I always say: “I can’t have balance because I either work or I don’t work”. And if it’s a project and it’s exciting, I want to do it.
Right now there’s no work, so the balance is either you do something, or you don’t. But when everything starts again, it’s probably going to all start in one go!
It’s been seven years since the original First Dates aired. Can you see it going on and on?
I don’t see myself stopping – it’s gone so quickly and I really enjoy it. I’m not bored of it.
The nice thing is the people who come on the dates, because these people are really excited about meeting you and they really do think you’re going to find them the love of their life.
So we have a responsibility to that, which is really exciting. Every year it’s the same, but every year it’s completely different.
How much fun did you have working on the recent Gordon, Gino & Fred: American Road Trip?
I had the best time of my life with those two, so I watched it and relived the memories, and I laugh, and I laugh, and I laugh.
In fact, last week I watched it and I cried because I was just thinking about the time I had and how beautiful it was and all the people we met. It’s so sad we can’t do that anymore and the people there are stuck and don’t have a job any more – it’s heartbreaking.
What are you hoping to do when the lockdown is over?
Everything!
I had a super exciting year ahead of me and now everything has been postponed, so I’ve got to wait for 2021 or 2022.
On the other side of the coin, I get to spend more time with my kids, spend more time with fruitcake (my fiancee), and I’m enjoying that.
I just worry about the world and how it’s going to affect us.
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