Hit Channel 4 reality dating show First Dates is back on our screens next week, and it’s headed up North for the newest series.
For the first time ever, the First Dates restaurant has been moved to Manchester, and the upcoming 16th series – which is set to begin on Tuesday 19th January – has been moved to Spinningfields restaurant The Refinery, based in the XYZ Building on Hardman Boulevard.
Earlier series’ of First Dates were previously filmed at restaurants in London, but production company Twenty Twenty said the Manchester move showed its commitment to the UK regions.
Managing Director Leanne Klein said: “We are very excited to be taking our flagship dating series to [Manchester]. With the move of the First Dates restaurant, we will have the chance to expose our daters to a brand new experience with a few exciting new tweaks to the much loved format.”
First Dates initially hit TV screens in the UK back in 2013.
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The show’s simple format sees singletons matched up for a blind dinner date and there’s already a pretty impressive success rate, having led to several engagements, marriages and even a baby.
Although, this series of First Dates is probably going to be a different show than the one we’re used to, as social distancing measures will be in place and couples will be prevented from exchanging in any form of physical contact, including hugging and kissing.
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Fancy a sneak peak inside the restaurant ahead of the new series then?
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Stockport County supporters are calling for the ‘perfect’, ‘common-sense’ transfer this window
Danny Jones
A significant section of Stockport County supporters are calling for the club to do what many are dubbing not just the ‘perfect’ reinforcement this January transfer window, but following recent developments, what some have called almost ‘common sense’ at this point.
The player in question is Isaac Tanitoluwaloba Aduraoluwatimileyin Olaofe, also known as and more affectionately referred to as ‘Tanto’.
It’s fair to say he was a firm fan favourite during his time at Edgeley Park, and most in the ground would have him back in a heartbeat.
With that in mind, given that County are not only looking to consolidate their promotion/playoff prospects wherever possible, but Tanto’s current club seem to have just nudged him another step down the pecking order, there is a suggestion that various moving parts could see him return to Stockport.
Naturally getting a lot of questions on Tanto Olaofe, especially with reports coming around his potential availability (or lack of) from the Charlton Athletic end today.
Understand there's interest in a number of targets, including Olaofe. That's *not* to say interest means a…
As per local football writer and Stockport correspondent, Sam Byrne (who also helps out on co-comms for County TV), there’s been plenty of interest in the Lewisham-born attacker, as it appears he may be available before the end of the month.
That is on loan, at least; although Charlton Athletic FC only recently signed him this past summer, Tanto had to wait until late two-thirds of the way through October to make his debut, even despite the capital-based club going after him quite persistently with a near record fee.
Fans were gutted to see him go, losing both his goal involvements and a big character around the ground – not to mention a great chant, too.
More crucially, perhaps due to the step from League One to the Championship, or simply not having quite fully settled into the rhythm of his new surroundings, he’s struggled to make much of an impact in his 25 appearances across all competitions.
Registering just a couple of assists and a single goal since arriving at The Valley stadium, compared to his best-ever season at County, when he scored 21 times throughout 2023/24, it’s fair to say that while he’s still put in some impressive peformances that, he hasn’t quite had the same return.
Still sitting as the Hatters’ second-highest scorer (37) since their return to the football league back in 2022, he still managed a dozen finishes and four assists last term, as those kinds of numbers could prove to be a key differential in the Greater Manchester side’s season.
IF they were to “bring him home” as many fans have already urged the board to do so, that is.
One user wrote, “Can you please tweet the following: Stockport County have agreed a deal with Charlton Athletic to sign Tanto Olaofe on a permanent deal until 2029. TIA [thanks in advance]”; another simply added: “Room for tanto back at Stockport county please.”
While Charlton manager Nathan Jones insisted that Tanto “isn’t going anywhere”, and the 26-year-old may obviously prefer plying his trade back in London, now The Addicks have completed the signing of another forward in seasoned EFL striker Lyndon Dykes, the 26-year-old could be competing for minutes.
Between the Scottish international, last year’s talisman, Matty Godden, Charlie Kelman and youngster Miles Leaburn, there are plenty of offensive options to choose from.
There has also been plenty of pull for the recruitment team to bring back former loan star, Louie Barry – who hasn’t enjoyed the same kind of form since leaving Dave Challinor’s squad either – with the Aston Villa youth product having also sparked some conversation after a recent profile picture change…
Once again, lots of this remains merely speculation for now, but it can’t be denied that there is a clamour from a sizeable amount of fans to bring either one or both of them back if possible.
Whether or not this affects any potential plans to bring back Isaac Tanto Olaofe as a loanee until the end of the campaign, as rumours continue to hint at, only time will tell. One thing we will say is that a lot can happen in a few days during the transfer window, let alone a few weeks.
The Franco Manca ‘pizza run’ explained – it involves freebies
Danny Jones
If you’ve been wondering why you’re seeing a lot of free pizza lately – especially among any of your mates that happen to be runners – but just hadn’t bothered to actually ask, we’re here to explain the current Franco Manca pizza ‘run trend’.
And yes, we were the foolish ones enough to have not quizzed any of our jogging chums until now, meaning we’ve missed out on more money and free pizza. Sigh.
Nevermind, though, because at least we spotted it before the end of the month (this being Franco Manca’s main January deal), and we dare say that now you’ve heard about it, you’ll see plenty others popping up on social media with their free slices.
That’s right, it may be a very thin slice with a very long and thin slice, but that is as much of a pizza slice outline as we needed to qualify for the current deal.
Yes, we’re aware that the actual pepperonis on ours are more square than most – listen, we did our best, and we’ve certainly seen people pulling off better overall shaped pizzas than us; that’s part of the fun/and or challenge.
For instance, we didn’t mean for our picture to come out with one long crust running down either…
So, how does it work, you ask? Well, it’s quite simple, to be fair. All you have to do is run a pizza-shaped route (any pizza shape works, by the way), map your route on the likes of Strava or Apple Fitness, etc., then show your creation at your nearest and claim a quid off for every kilometre you run.
As advertised on the ‘Map My Pizza Run’ page on their website, the aim isn’t about putting pressure or hitting a strict target; you simply get rewarded the longer you go.
Here’s a handy example from a local running content creator for you:
In our case, we joined up with native run club, Manchester Road Runners, for one of their regular social ‘SLRs’ (Sunday Long Run), chalking off 19km, which meant £19 off your next pizza – i.e. FREE and then some, baby.
Not only did the local group give themselves the perfect motivation as part of their training for the 2026 Manchester Marathon, but we also found that the steadier, chatty pace was super helpful for getting through the whole thing.
There are some stipulations, such as not being used in conjunction with any other offer, one pizza map being valid per person, and the route has to have been run in January. You can find the full terms and conditions HERE.
Oh, and technically, you can do it however you like: run, walk, cycle – you name it. Other than that, we’ve pretty much given you all the info you need to know, so go and get yourself some free pizza.
Emily Sergeant -
15th January 2021 
