Meet the King’s students who got featured on an ITV dating show

Medie and Noosh’s episode of Secret Crush aires on October 10th on ITV2


We all want to get noticed and be famous. (And we know anyone who denies that secretly tags celebs in those cheesy birthday posts and edits they made for them.)

But while most efforts get us nowhere, KCL student Medie Ngoma got recruited on ITV dating show Secret Crush from funny IG stories that’s already gotten him well-known around campus.

The London Tab spoke to Medie and his onscreen partner Noosh, who is also a KCL student, about their experience of being on a national reality show.

Medie is a third-year studying French and Spanish at King’s

The shooting was so fun. I felt like a celebrity’

In Medie’s words, Secret Crush is “a very wholesome dating show where you bring the person you had a crush on for a significant period of time and confess to them on national TV.”

It works like this: the participant will reveal their crush’s identity to the show’s producers, who will then call the crush to say, “Someone has a crush on you – do you want to come on TV and find out who it is?” The crush will then go on a “mystery date” without knowing who is taking them. And once they’ve arrived, the participant will walk in and reveal who they are.

The thrill of the show is the live reaction of the crush to their date, and by the end, the pair will decide if they want a second date or not.

Noosh told The London Tab: “I got a phone call from a lovely producer saying someone had a ‘secret crush’ on me. I knew it must be someone who knows me well enough to give the producers my contact details, but they made it sound really ambiguous.

“Was it a friend? Was it one of my flatmates?? They’re all in relationships, but am I so deeply desirable that I managed to break them up???”

Medie and Noosh are both involved in KCL Comedy Club

Maybe the anticipation added to the pressure of being on TV, as Noosh was “initially really nervous.”

“But the presenter Verona, the crew, and the producers were so genuine and nice, and that helped a lot.

“For example, when I was asked what drink I would like, I said I’d been craving orange juice and asked if I could get it in a nice glass. And they made sure I got the fanciest orange juice possible – in a piña colada glass, with a lime twist, AND a paper umbrella.

“I was so excited about that orange juice that I was always drinking it in my scenes. You can see the glass emptying at a rapid pace over the course of the date,” she said.

Noosh loved her fancy glass of orange juice

In addition to the orange juice, she also felt “much more relaxed” when Medie walked in on the date. The pair knew each other well from comedy at uni already, and Noosh thought the shared experience helped prepare them for being on a reality show.

“Medie and I do comedy together. The nice way to say it is that we’re both fairly comfortable being in the spotlight. The honest way to say it is that we both desperately need as much attention as possible, and if we don’t get it, we completely forget who we are and why we exist and get crushed by existential dread.

“I’m kidding. I think comedy definitely helps when it comes to thinking on your feet – the crew were very forgiving when it came to us making mistakes, but you do need to think and respond quite quickly. I think it also helps you realise that you can handle the attention and the pressure,” she said.

Noosh thought experience with comedy helped the pair with the shoot

The sense of humour both of them have really shined on the show: “We joked around a lot. I had a whole conversation with him about how I’d rather be dating his way more fashionable dad, he did his famous dance move on the floor of the bar, and we were playing with the paper umbrellas in our drinks for ages before he broke his.

“Everyone on set was laughing, and it made it all feel much easier,” Noosh said.

And Medie enjoyed his experience as well: “I loved everything about the show. The shooting was so fun. I felt like a celebrity.

“For real, I was buzzing. ITV treated me like a king that day, and every crew member was so kind to me.”

‘A recruitment agent from ITV contacted me after seeing my Instagram stories’

A burning question on everyone’s mind is how Medie got the opportunity in the first place.

He told The London Tab: “Early January this year, a recruitment agent from ITV contacted me after seeing my Instagram stories. She told me that she found my stories funny and believed I’ll be ideal for an upcoming show known as Secret Crush.

“At the time, I knew nothing about the show, but after doing some research, I realised that it would be really fun and a lifetime opportunity. I also saw this as a breakthrough for my career in show business. I’m glad I [accepted the offer] because, so far, it has been the highlight of my year for sure.”

According to Medie, his IG stories (and comments on KCL confessions) have already earned him a reputation as the “funny guy at university” amongst KCL students. But he hopes that after he returns to campus from his year abroad in France and Spain, he’ll be greeted with “ayo you’re that guy from secret crush” instead.

And, more importantly: “My reputation with the ladies in my uni is awful, so hopefully, the ladies will see me as a gentleman from now on [after the show].”

Medie is quite famous around King’s for his funny IG stories (@mediexmedie)

Aside from changes in how he is known around campus, Medie also hopes that participation in Secret Crush will be his springboard to other shows.

“I’m grateful to this show as I gained connections with producers of very well-known shows. I’m not gonna reveal too much, but hopefully in the near future, you will see me in more shows. I wanna be on love island,” he said.

He also recommends other London students to join the show: “If you want a career like me in showbiz, I’ll defo recommend taking part if you get the opportunity to.

“It was absolutely so fun. I’m not even lying. It was the best day of my life.”

To find Medie and Noosh on Secret Crush, check out the sixth episode of the show on ITV2. Medie is also active on social media platforms (IG: mediexmedie/Snapchat: medie_medie). He wants to tell our readers: “Feel free to DM me. I don’t know what’s more dead – my DMs or my love life.”

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