What it's like to star on dating show Take Me Out

After watching Paddy McGuinness’ popular dating show for years, 21-year-old Sharlene Bayliss couldn’t resist applying for the chance to leave her light on for love.

Take Me Out, which is now in its 10th series, has been responsible for seven weddings, three babies – with another two on the way.

In his role as master matchmaker, Paddy aims to find 30 single women a date and in the process the man of their dreams.

Every week he lines up a selection of single lads to brave the legendary Love Lift and meet the ladies. But they must remember ‘no likey, no lighty – if the girls don’t like what they see, then the boys face a blackout and a lonely trip back home.

Sharlene, who lives in Telford and is currently studying business management at Birmingham City University, joined the line of up of girls looking for love on the ITV show last month.

“I had always watched the show and seen the girls have a good time on there.

“I applied mainly for the experience, I never expected to find someone out of it.

“It was so much fun. I knew I would get on with all the other girls. It was a really good experience. Paddy was really lovely,” Sharlene tells us.

She even took centre stage after revealing to the cheeky presenter that she enjoyed hula-hooping in her spare time.

There was applause as Paddy passed her a hoop and told her to ‘take it away’.

Dressed in a yellow jumpsuit, she demonstrated her talent to the sound of Kylie Minogue’s Spinning Around, which proved a hit with the audience.

“Hula-hooping on the show was great fun – I didn’t expect to do that,” she tells Weekend.

As loyal viewers would have seen it was budgie owner Sean Turner, from Manchester, who caught her eye.

He performed a safari-themed bird singing piece set to Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You.

During his pre-recorded video interview about his background, the record-breaking competitive swimmer had described himself as a ‘crazy, energetic gentlemen’.

He switched off the remaining girls’ lights until he was down to two and then chose to go on a date with Sharlene. When asked why he had kept her light on by Paddy, he said he thought she was ‘stunning’.

After being introduced, the pair disappeared in the Love Lift and were then whisked away to get to know each other.

Their date included a trip to a zoo where they met parrots and lorikeets as well as a romantic picnic on the sun-kissed Isle of Fernando’s.

The mythical island is actually located on Tenerife’s northern coast in Puerto de la Cruz.

“I was really happy when I saw Sean, he looked really great,” she said during their video interview.

During their picnic Sean gave her a cuddly toy parrot as a gift, which Sharlene described as ‘really sweet’.

“It just showed that he had thought about me and wanted to impress me a bit,” she says, describing as ‘a dream date’.

Sean told the cameras that she had a ‘cracking personality’ and was ‘beautiful’.

Sharlene said the holiday date had been a success because she was still in touch with Sean and they were hoping to meet up again in the coming weeks.

“It went really well. I didn’t expect to get on with him as well as I did,” adds Sharlene.

She is no stranger to the spotlight as she has been taking part in pageants since she was young and last year competed at Miss Universe Great Britain.

But she admitted she was nervous at first about the cameras rolling all of the time but being filmed soon began to feel like ‘second nature’. Keen footballer Sharlene was also full of praise for the show’s host Paddy, who is well known for his work with fellow Bolton comic Peter Kay.

“Paddy was really welcoming and he spent a lot of time talking to the girls. He really was, as I expected to him to be, as friendly as he looks on TV.

“He made us all feel really relaxed and comfortable,” she tells Weekend.

Sharlene, who has ambitions of setting up her own business after she graduates, said her friends and family had been very supportive.

But she admits they were a little surprised at first by her appearance on the show and she says it was strange watching the programme when the episodes aired last month.

“They couldn’t believe I went on it. I watched it back and it was really weird seeing myself on TV,” she says.

“I just wanted to be myself throughout the show,” adds Sharlene, who appeared on three episodes with the final one showing her date with Sean.

Sharlene said she had enjoyed every moment of the experience and said she had also made ‘some friends for life’ because of being on the dating show.

“Meeting the other girls has been great. We speak to each other every day through our WhatsApp group. It’s been really good fun,” she says.

Sharlene says she would recommend taking part in the dating show to anyone who might be considering it.

“If anyone is thinking of applying to go on the show, they should go for it,” she says.

• Take Me Out, Saturday at 6.45pm on ITV