Adrian and Catherine

This week welcoming us for a new term at Bradford & Ilkley Community College are Adrian, 35, who works in advertising, and Catherine, 36, a yoga teacher. Read the full account in the Guardian and then return here for those stubborn, soggy dregs that are always left in the bottom of the colander.

Adrian | Catherine

What were you hoping for?
Someone cute for my national press debut, and hopefully a connection, too.

A connection? In the GBD?! Bring jump leads.

First impressions?
Kind. He told me to “settle in”, which was really comforting given the nerves walking to the restaurant.

Kind is probably one of the best adjectives someone can chuck at you when talking about you, isn’t it? In a world where ‘unkind’ is the default – in fact, the needle is quivering over ‘cruel’, really, at the moment – then finding pockets of kindness is such a a relief. Yay, you think, not everyone is evil, it just feels that way.

What did you talk about?
How nervous we’d both been all day. The world of dating. Work. Travel. Music. My fussy eating. Why garden cities are called that. How drinking gin and tonic can protect you from malaria (still to be factchecked)

Introducing Adrian to Desert Island Discs! Our mutual passion for music and dancing, food and cinema.

How nervous we’d both been all day. Oh, nerves are just excitement with a less streamlined PR campaign. Nerves help you do the thing.

My fussy eating. Exceptionally brave to crack this one open on a first date. There has been a huge backlash against so-called fussy eaters in the last few years, I’ve noticed. While awareness of intolerances has grown, there’s been another side to it that’s been quite unpleasant, about what a pain ‘picky’ eaters are, how they should grow up etc. And, you know, the funny thing is the people who say things like this are usually the kind of people who expect to behave exactly as they want at any time, and to hell with anyone who disagrees. Empty vessels intent on proving a proverb true. My advice, really, is not to get too hung up on what other people are doing, so long as they’re not harming anyone, because one day, should you find yourself mocked for your own social transgressions, you might find you need them to speak up for you. And, frankly, there are more important things to worry about than how someone likes their eggs, or whether they can’t stand celery.

Desert Island Discs. They don’t even play the full song. It’s a no from me.

Most awkward moment?
A friendly (and slightly drunk) stranger in a pub took a liking to us and asked for my number so we could go on a double date with him and his partner.

Adrian made friends with a local in the pub who asked us both, rather determinedly, if we wanted to go on a double date to meet his other half.

Two slightly different accounts of this incident which say a lot about each dater. Which side do you fall on, here? I’m with Catherine – that ‘rather determinedly’ is LOUD and it is also my favourite song. Nice to make a random friend in a pub but, pal, we’re on a date, you are drunk, and when you get home and tell your partner that you’ve arranged a date with two strangers, they’re going to say to you, ‘Simon, we’ve got enough friends, and speaking of whom, most of them are in the dining room, waiting, you were supposed to be home hours ago; we think it’s time we talked about your drinking.’

Best thing about Catherine?
She’s an all-round sweetie but if I had to pick one thing, I’d say a great listener.

An all-round sweetie! So she’s not a midget gem, a sour cherry tangfastic, or a Twix. Oh, all-round, I see. Anyway, this is a lovely thing to say.

Would you introduce them to your friends?
Definitely. I invited her to my birthday, but she’s having a party the same day so my friends will have to wait.

I invited him to a party I’m throwing, but selfishly it clashes with his birthday.

This is, you will not be surprised to hear, the closing paragraph of chapter three of an Emily Henry rom-com called PARTY LINES in which one go-getting advertising exec finds the venue where he’s holding his huge corporate brand launch has double-booked with a floaty yoga teacher who is hoping to break the world record for most people doing the longest-held simultaneous bird of paradise pose. They meet to thrash out who gets to keep the booking but clash, and have to accommodate each other’s event with hilarious (and eventually romantic) results.

Describe Catherine in three words.
Kind, positive and inquisitive.

KIND, like the neighbour who compliments your petunias while texting the council about your illegal lean-to kitchen.
POSITIVE, like a Pilates instructor who assures you your shoulder will eventually pop back into place once the paramedics have arrived.
INQUISITIVE, like your dog who, you discover while watching on the nanny cam, has learned to turn the gas on.

Describe Adrian in three words
Interested, quick-witted and charming.

INTERESTED, like Christopher Biggins hearing the sound of an envelope opening somewhere.
QUICK-WITTED, like a cat pulled out of the audience on The Price is Right (zeitgeist reference there)
CHARMING, like I can be, if money is changing hands.

Did you go on somewhere?
After discovering we lived near each other, we headed back to our neighbourhood and sweet-talked our way into a packed-out karaoke night.

And … did you kiss?
After the fun night we had, it would’ve been rude not to.

We did. He walked me home, a real gent.

If you could change one thing about the evening what would it be?
Absolutely nothing, it was the best date I’ve been on in a while.

There are no regrets!

It may be a tiny drop from a pipette of gold in an ocean of toxic waste, but isn’t it lovely to see life go on, in a tiny corner of the world, the cogs still turning, nature winning out, two people enjoying a snog after missing all the high notes on It’s All Coming Back To Me Now?

Marks out of 10?
10.

10.

Look, usually, I’d be, like:

But today I’m more:

Would you meet again?
Yes! We’re meeting again in a few days.

I would. He’s my neighbour after all.

Perfect. All the best to you! Let’s hope we can all soon turn a corner as exciting as this one.

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Something to remember about the review and the daters that I put at the end of every post

The comments I make are based on answers given by participants. The Guardian chooses what to publish and usually edits answers to make the column work better on the page. Most things I say are riffing on the answers given and not judgements about the daters themselves, so please be kind to them in comments, replies, and generally on social media. Daters are under no obligation to get along for our benefit, or explain why they do, or don’t, want to see each other again, so please try not to speculate or fill our feeds with hate. If you’re one of the daters, get in touch if you want to give me your side of the story. And let me know what your karaoke song was!

Catherine and Adrian ate at Guanabana, London NW1. Fancy a blind date? Emailblind.date@theguardian.com