‘It’d be interesting to start my dating journey on TV’: Lancs students star in Squad Dates

With the pandemic turning the dating world on its head and making apps like Tinder and Bumble more popular than ever, it feels like the dating world will never be the same again. With life slowly returning to normal, the days of meeting someone on the dancefloor in sugar are starting to become a reality once more. But what if your dating adventures at university were broadcast on national television? (Oh, the horror!)

We spoke to Jacob, Jude and Ash, who are all students at Lancaster, about their experiences when starring in the BBC show “Squad Dates”. The show, which premiered on TV on Valentine’s Day, follows the trio in Middlesbrough being hosted by Becca, Tracey and Kaitlin from Teesside University. The group dating show features the “squad” on a series of dates in the hopes of finding love and exploring new friendships.

Filming took place in some iconic locations which will be familiar for Lancs students, during the boys’ introduction on the show we see the sports centre, Lancaster town centre and Grizedale bar (who doesn’t love two cocktails for £7.50), whilst the boys explain how they met whilst studying at university and playing Squash together.

‘To do something once in a lifetime was too good an opportunity to turn down’

When asked why the trio decided to participate in the dating show, they told us how this opportunity seemed too good to miss. Jude, who was contacted by the production team on Instagram, believed it too good to be true at first (understandable, we’ve all had a spam DM from a “company” on Instagram). But after a video call with the team, it was proved to be the real deal.

They all echoed the same answer that this was too good of an opportunity to miss out on. In response to our question, Jacob said: “It’d be interesting to throw myself in the deep end and start my dating journey on national tv… so I thought why not?”

Jude said: “The main drivers behind actually going ahead with it for me were as follows. Firstly, to have a great time with some good friends, secondly, to get the opportunity to meet a group of girls away from Lancaster. Finally, as we were offered a four-day stay at a luxury house in Middlesbrough, with all food and costs provided for us.”

In his own words, given that Jude “eats a lot,” he saw the opportunity as “a very big deal”.

‘I would say filming around Lancaster was my favourite part’

We asked the boys what their favourite part of filming the show was. Events such as hiking up Roseberry Topping hill in Yorkshire and filming around different parts of Lancaster seemed to be the most memorable parts, with Jacob cooking brunch on the last day the favourite.

Jacob, a self-proclaimed “nightmare in the kitchen”, explained that “the food turned out to be edible, the house didn’t burn down, and I don’t think anyone got food poisoning, so it was a huge success in the end!”

‘As soon as Jacob said that he was keen to get involved, I knew that the nation was in for a treat’

We asked Jude how he decided who would come on the show with him once the production team contacted him for squad dates. He explained that he sent messages out to a few of his friends to find people who could come on the show with him.

He went on to explain that ‘I initially sent out a few messages to a few of my mates asking around to see if anyone would be interested. Eventually, I had the final two, Jacob and Ash. I knew that going on the show with the two of them, in particular, would lead to wholesome outcomes for all those involved and that there wouldn’t be any conflict like you often see on shows of this nature.’

When choosing Jacob and Ash, he told us how ‘As soon as Jacob said that he was keen to get involved, I knew that the nation was in for a treat. As predicted, Jacob quickly took the role of the main character due to his sweet, dopey character and has been inundated with dating requests since the show aired. I was also super pleased that Ash was keen to get involved (after some persuading with his parents) as he’s such a chilled out guy and a pleasure to be around. The trio seemed incredibly well suited to go on the show as their history of friendship, and common interests would ensure they’d work well together.

When the first episode was released, Ash and Jacob told us how the trio had rented out a lecture theatre to watch the episode surrounded by their friends. They said: “It was definitely a great atmosphere, and we all had a good laugh. Even if I was cringing at everything, I said!”

‘Watch the show for a lesson on how not to flirt’

We asked the all-important question to the boys on what advice they would give Lancs students when going on a first date. Having had it broadcast on TV, we were interested in what words of wisdom these dating experts could share.

Keeping their answers short and sweet, they said: “Don’t bring a film camera, watch the show for a lesson on how not to flirt as Jude is an expert, keep the socks on and keep the toes away from the table.”

This solid piece of advice makes a lot more sense once you’ve watched the show.

Lancs students can stream ‘Squad dates’ on BBC iPlayer now.

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