My man turned me down on Take Me Out as I'd dated Darren Day – now we have kids

Adele Cobain, 41, a personal trainer and presenter, lives in Suffolk with her husband Dave, 37, a training manager for Avon, and their children Freddie, eight, and Elsie, three. 

“Gazing at the words before me, my eyes filled with tears. ‘Will you marry me?’ my boyfriend Dave had written in the sand while we were on holiday in Lanzarote in 2013.


Just two years before, I’d walked into a studio to take part in the ITV dating series Take Me Out.

Now I was six months pregnant and engaged to a man I’d met on TV. It felt totally surreal – but wonderful.

Before going on the show, I’d been single for seven years. After lots of unsuccessful dates with blokes I met online, by summer 2010, I’d decided to focus on enjoying the single life.

Then, a few months later, an advert to appear on Take Me Out, presented by Paddy McGuinness, popped up on my social media feed.

I thought: ‘What do I have to lose?’ My friends thought it was a great idea but my mum and brother questioned what I was letting myself in for.

A month after applying by filling in a form and sending off a short video, I got a call saying I’d been picked. I couldn’t wait to take part.

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In November 2010, I travelled from my flat in west London to Maidstone in Kent to film the show.

Backstage I chatted to the other girls – there were 30 of us in total – as we got dressed together then met Paddy, who was really friendly.

When Dave, then a 28-year-old gym instructor, came bounding out of the lift, my heart started pounding. I felt an instant attraction to his Essex boy, cheeky chappy persona.

I got down to the final two, but Dave chose the other woman instead and I felt gutted.

I did get picked by another guy called Michael, and we spent a few days in Tenerife, but there wasn’t a spark and I returned home still single.

Just a few weeks after filming, I bumped into Dave at Sugar Hut, a nightclub in Brentwood, Essex. He told me he and his date hadn’t hit it off either. 

Over the next few months, our paths crossed again on nights out, and we bonded over our shared experience on the show, with Dave admitting he’d only turned my light out after Paddy revealed that I’d once dated Darren Day, which put him off.

He eventually asked me out, and in June 2011 we became an item. 

He was so kind and attentive, I really felt he could be The One. 

The next summer, we started trying for a baby, and when I showed Dave a positive test in September 2012, he cried with happiness.

We were both so excited, and when I was almost six months pregnant, we moved in together.

Over the next few months, our paths crossed again on nights out, and we bonded over our shared experience on the show, with Dave admitting he’d only turned my light out after Paddy revealed that I’d once dated Darren Day, which put him off.

We had our ups and downs living together at first. My hormones were all over the place and Dave wasn’t the most domesticated after years of living with his parents.

But being together felt right. When he popped the question in February 2013, I was thrilled.

We were overjoyed when Freddie was born that June, and we got married in August the following year.

Needless to say, there were a few mentions of the unconventional way we’d met in the wedding speeches! In February 2018, our daughter Elsie completed our family. 

Dave loves telling people: ‘I met my wife on Take Me Out,’ and it’s definitely a conversation starter – especially as he turned my light off!”

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