Blind Date's Opening Show Is A Ratings Hit

The first episode of Blind Date aired on Sunday night and it was a huge ratings success. 

The TV3 series reached an audience of over 550,000 viewers across the programme, with an average of 266,000 tuning in. 

It was also the most popular show for under-45s in its time slot.

Hosted by Al Porter the show was also trending on Twitter on Sunday night. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">⒈ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlindDateIRL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlindDateIRL</a><br>⒉ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/XFactor?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#XFactor</a><br>⒊ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Fote2017?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Fote2017</a><br>⒋ <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Strictly?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Strictly</a><br>⒌ Northern Ireland<br><br>2017/10/8 22:12 IST <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/trndnl?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#trndnl</a> <a href="https://t.co/DsIlfuEHOM">https://t.co/DsIlfuEHOM</a></p>&mdash; Trendinalia Ireland (@trendinaliaIE) <a href="https://twitter.com/trendinaliaIE/status/917137552842170369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

While the show may have gained a huge audience the reaction on Twitter was... mixed. 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">It’s worse than we could have ever imagined. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlindDateIRL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlindDateIRL</a> <a href="https://t.co/5NYYcl7EBh">pic.twitter.com/5NYYcl7EBh</a></p>&mdash; John Fox (@foxymm12) <a href="https://twitter.com/foxymm12/status/917119162975182848?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Couldn&#39;t possibly watch <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlindDateIRL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlindDateIRL</a> without refreshing the twitter feed every 5 seconds <a href="https://t.co/7ZAhDuQg2E">pic.twitter.com/7ZAhDuQg2E</a></p>&mdash; Nicola Barry (@nickybar) <a href="https://twitter.com/nickybar/status/917130560283258882?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Meanwhile at Cilla Black’s grave...<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlindDateIRL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlindDateIRL</a> <a href="https://t.co/qIeRV5tJGf">pic.twitter.com/qIeRV5tJGf</a></p>&mdash; Paul Daly (@pdaly83) <a href="https://twitter.com/pdaly83/status/917121907178332160?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlindDateIRL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlindDateIRL</a> Dion looks like she lost her way on the way back from The Rose of Tralee.</p>&mdash; Jenny Bracken (@JennyBracken) <a href="https://twitter.com/JennyBracken/status/917119400892862469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The only thing giving me a bit of humour going into Monday morning 👍 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlindDateIRL?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#BlindDateIRL</a></p>&mdash; Kevin Muldoon (@kevin_muldoon) <a href="https://twitter.com/kevin_muldoon/status/917136435370655746?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 8, 2017</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>