Mark Labbett dives back into the dating pool in Celebs Go Dating. But one health-related incident led him to experience a terrifying moment behind the scenes of the C4 show.
It’s the 14th season of the hit reality dating series, and who better to guide the latest batch of celebs through the romantic chaos than Anna Williamson?
The trusted matchmaker returns to the agency alongside Dr Tara Suwinyattichaiporn, Paul C Brunson and everyone’s favourite receptionist Tom Read Wilson.
Among the stars trying their luck on Celebs Go Dating is The Chase’s Mark Labbett – but he’s more used to quizzes than kisses. “I’ve been single for most of my life,” he says. “I’m a little bit on the spectrum.” Mark says he finds human signals much harder than trivia. Facts are easy, people are complicated.”
A diabetes-related health scare made filming even tougher. “One night, I had a hypoglycaemic attack,” he says. “I might have been a bit grumpy that night. I apologised to everyone after.” Though he admits a nap on set helped him cope.
But the real curveball came when agents asked him to read social cues. “I went, ‘What do you mean?,’” he says. “You don’t notice people’s emotions when in the room?,’ and I said no. There was shock on both sides.”
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Anna Williamson, on the other hand, was thrilled to be back on the Channel 4 reality series. The latest season of Celebs Go Dating opens with a sunny shake-up, with the celebs kicking off their dating journeys with a trip to Ibiza.
“Get your popcorn ready,” Anna adds. “We have a ‘new’ agency this series. We’ve got amazing celebrities who are so different. They each brought such different challenges for us coaches to work on.”
This year’s line-up is packed with TV favourites from across the reality and entertainment spectrum. Love Island’s Olivia Hawkins, Too Hot To Handle star Louis Russell, The Sandman’s Donna Preston and Made In Chelsea bad boy Sam Prince all step into the dating ring alongside Mark.
They’re joined by TV personality and autism advocate Christine McGuinness, singer turned reality star Kerry Katona – who returns to the show six years after her first appearance – and S Club 7’s Jon Lee.
“The challenge this year was trying to keep up with the celebrities and their dating prowess,” Anna says. “It was quite challenging to help some of our celebrities unlearn certain behaviours. Some of them didn’t know how to even walk into a date and execute it appropriately.”
Anna, Tara and Paul work closely with the celebrities to help them identify unhealthy patterns throughout their on-screen dates. “We let things play out,” Anna says.
“They feel emotional, tearful – that’s part of the process. It’s a very important part of the work. When we get to our vulnerable side, we start to look at what needs to be done.” It’s a tough process, particularly with high-profile names. “With celebrities, they are typically very guarded,” Anna says.
“They’ve usually lost a bit of faith in the dating world because they’ve been burnt a lot along the way. Their dating pool tends to be smaller because they tend to date more within their celebrity circle.
They’ve been burnt by people selling stories or that haven’t been dating them for genuine reasons. They can be a bit guarded and jaded.”
But Anna knows how to break down barriers. “Tara always calls me Mama Anna,” she says, “I am a nurturer by nature. I’m always the first to jump up and give someone a well-needed hug.”
That being said, she’s no pushover. “I can be tough when I need to be,” she says. “A couple of our celebs get a little bit of a dressing down from me this series.
It might surprise you, but it always comes from a place of love. I will always help our celebrities, but if I see repeated habits, I will tell them. And I do.” Her priority is always clarity and accountability.
“The most unrealistic expectation, for a couple of our celebrities, is that you can date multiple people within the agency, but not take accountability for how you either continue or finish those interactions,” Anna says. “Some of them got a bit of a bitter pill when they were having fun. Some of those bad habits started to catch up with them.”
Fortunately, Anna has support from her colleagues at the agency, Paul, Tara and Tom. As for the future? She has high hopes for the series. “Pete Wicks has been on three times, we may as well have Sam (Thompson) on three times,” she says.
But what she really wants is a reunion. “I would love to do an All Stars version of Celebs Go Dating,” she says. “Paul and I are always talking about this, because we’ve had so many celebrities come through our doors. We are always in touch with them.”
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