entertainment

Finally. First Dates is getting its first same-sex couple.

One of the contestants in Wednesday night’s episode of First Dates is a celebrity psychic. But as completely awesome as that is, that’s not the big story. Believe it or not, Harry T will be one half of the first same-sex couple to have ever featured on an Aussie dating show.

The 26-year-old Nostradamus will be paired up with Iain, a 49-year-old remedial massage therapist from Tasmania. Umm, a masseur and a psychic – how can we be friends, please?

Iain and Harry on their first on-screen date. via Channel 7

The show follows two complete strangers a first date, where they must navigate all the glorious awkwardness that such an event involves for our voyeuristic viewing pleasure. It’s a British concept originally and, perhaps unsurprisingly, that version has featured several same-sex couples over the years.

Still, tonight’s episode will be a big deal for us Down Under and our soon-to-be-favourite medium knows it. Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald, Harry said he was excited about the prospect of finding that special someone, but also about what it means for where Australia is heading as a nation. “It could be real platform for other people out there who don’t have the opportunity to witness same-sex love on TV,” he said. “I’ve never seen it.”

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Harry’s potential future beau, Iain, formerly identified as heterosexual and was married for 15 years before coming out to his wife. In an interview with New Idea, he confessed that the five years that followed the breakup were devastating both emotionally and financially, as he plunged deep into debt.

But things are finally looking up and he’s ready to look for love out in the open. “This is who I am,” he said. “I’ve been living happily as myself for quite a few years now, and to be who I am on national television, it’s very special.”

Will they hit it off? Who knows? Well, probably Harry – because you know, psychic –  but he’s not giving anything away just yet.