BEFORE couples got together on Love Island or Married At First Sight, there was a dating show wedding that captured hearts like no other.
Blind Date, presented by Cilla Black, brought together lovebirds Sue and Alex Tatham in 1988.
And three years later, over 17million viewers tuned in to watch them tie the knot at a village church in Walsall in the West Midlands.
The reason for the intense excitement?
They were the very first couple from the show to say “I do”.
In fact, the announcement of their nuptials was front page news and the ITV programme’s much-loved host Cilla was elated about getting a “new hat” for the big day.
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Now, 33 years later, the couple have renewed their vows at the same church.
And Alex, 59, an IT company director, reveals that good fortune played a part in bringing them together.
In the popular TV format, which ran for 22 series, one picker had to select from three potential suitors hidden behind a screen.
Later, the couple would return to the show to give the verdict on their date.
On one very special episode, Alex was the man asking questions of three mystery women and deciding who had the best replies.
But he was too anxious to properly take in Sue’s answers.
Cilla Black hosts Blind Date on ITV
He tells The Sun: “I was the most nervous I have ever been.
“It zoomed past.
“I had absolutely no idea who to choose.
“I was doing ‘Eeny, meeny, miny, moe’.
“And if you look at the clip, you’ll see that’s what I was doing.
“And, you know, fate lent a hand.”
When Sue, now a 59-year-old retired nursery school teacher, emerged for the first time dressed all in denim, the couple never imagined they would still be together three decades later.
Alex recalls: “When Sue and I walked off set, having taken our first ever glimpse of each other, we said, ‘We’re going to remember this for the rest of our lives.
“Let’s make sure that we’re friends for ever’.
“And that’s the attitude we went into that show with.”
But love blossomed over the next couple of years and, after marrying, they made a home in Balham, South London, and had two children, Emily, now 30, and Charlie, 28.
Bizarre circumstances are a theme in Sue and Alex’s relationship.
At the end of last year, a social media influencer stopped them on the street to ask how they met, not realising who they were.
The video went viral on TikTok.
Alex says: “Everyone goes, ‘Surely it was a set up’.
“But no, it was totally random.
“This bloke came up to us and said, ‘Can I ask you how you two met?’. I go, ‘Yeah, we met on telly’.”
Another twist of fate led to the couple renewing their vows on a very special date at St Michael & All Angels Church, in Pelsall, on the outskirts of Walsall, which was celebrating its 180th anniversary.
The vicar asked Sue, who grew up in the area, and Alex if they would like to be part of the event on October 19.
They gladly agreed.
Alex explains: “The vicar said that, on the Sunday, they were going to have a special service celebrating wedding renewals, and asked if we’d like to be part of it.
“That happened to be the date of our 33rd wedding anniversary.
“It was an amazing weekend.”
'HEAVILY CHAPERONED'
The church was packed and ten more couples joined them in renewing their vows.
In the Eighties, the excitement around the couple’s romance was largely driven by the fact most of the show’s dates were spectacular failures.
Rarely did the suitors have anything in common.
And often they would have gone their separate ways by the final day of their weekend away.
Even though the staple of Saturday night telly started in 1985, Sue and Alex were the first ones to get wed — six years later.
And by the time Cilla’s run as host came to an end in 2003, only two more had made the same commitment.
Cilla, who died in 2015 aged 72, was replaced by Paul O’Grady for a reboot in 2017.
But that only lasted a couple of years and, sadly, Paul passed away aged 67 in March last year.
Alex and Sue both went on the show in 1988 with no expectations.
Sue says: “It was an adventure.
“I was keen to see how a TV show was made and how glamorous it was.
