Before The Bachelorette and Married at First Sight, New Zealand's OG matchmaking show was Blind Date.
The TVNZ show aired in the popular pre-news slot of 5:30 pm every weeknight from 1989 to 1990 and was co-hosted by Dave Jamieson and Suzy Aitken (now Clarkson).
Suzy and Blind Date contestant coordinator Terri Kilmartin join Jesse Mulligan to reminisce.
Suzy Clarkson (formerly Aitken) Photo: Bupa NZ
Suzy was 21 and working as a physio at Greenlane Women's Hospital when she got a call about an audition at TVNZ, went along in her hospital uniform, and eventually got the co-hosting job on Blind Date.
The show was "cheese central" but a lot of fun to work on, she says.
The format involved three 'players' sitting on bar stools and a 'single' sitting behind a heart-shaped wall and asking them questions such as 'If you were a cocktail what would you be?'.
Then, after some tense music, the player made their choice, the heart wall slid back and they met their chosen date.
"That was just classic but you knew at best it was going to be slightly nervous smiles, at worst it was going to be looks of horror on their faces, and it did happen."
The following week, the couple would come back to dissect their date on the couch.
Terri Kilmartin Photo: crewlist.co.nz
Blind Date couples were sometimes sent overseas for their dates, say to Paris for 24 hours, Terri says, and she escorted contestants to New York, New Orleans and Kuala Lumpur.
Looking back, it was a way looser and more innocent time, Terri says.
"We had no idea who these people were. Then you take them on flights, to hotels, dinners, and there was so much drinking on the flights cause everyone was so nervous."
Some Blind Date contestants later became famous, including one Susan Barnes who later changed her name to Suzanne Paul.
In her episode, Paul said she enjoyed Egyptian belly dancing, had ambitions to be a game show hostess and was looking for "someone who's well built, with a well-built wallet, as well."
As far as Suzy and Terri know, no one actually fell in love during the filming of Blind Date, but Suzy says she has been approached at least three times in the supermarket by women who said they'd met their husbands through the show.
Blind Date marked the start of a 23-year career in television for Suzy. For the last 12 years, she has worked in corporate affairs. Terri currently works as a First Assistant Director in the film industry.
