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Did y’all catch this week’s First Dates? Well you’ll have seen Clapham Catch Xanthi on a date with Linford, who claims – that despite being gay himself – he “doesn’t like gay men”… Is that why you beat yourself up with your concealer brush? Anyway, we caught up with Xanthi to chat masculinity, famous crushes, and who he’d LEAST like to date…

So it seems your appearance on First Dates got a fair bit of a response on Twitter – you’ve definitely got some admirers – how do you feel about that? 

There were a lot of lovely comments which of course makes me feel great. I’m straight to the point which can sometimes rub people up the wrong way but I saw next to no negative comments which was nice.

Duh. You’ve actually been dubbed the hottest First Dates contestant EVER… (By us). 

[Laughs] I love this. Not sure I’d agree but I’ll take that.

You’re back on the show next week – was your next date any better?

I am indeed, it was a far better match. I won’t give too much away but it was a big improvement on my first date.  I think the producers realised who I was after my first date and what I was looking for and found someone more suited to me.

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Describe your perfect date night/day:

I’m a fan of a day date, nice lunch, coffee, walk in a park. On an evening I’d prefer a couple of cocktails somewhere followed by dinner.

How can a guy impress you?

I’m very much the organiser and like to plan activities to do, places to eat, things to see. If someone goes out of their way to arrange or do something they think I’d like then I’m impressed. It doesn’t happen often as I’m a bit of a control freak so it goes a long way when it does.

Do you think it’s hard to find love? 

It’s hard to find someone who ticks all the boxes and therefore lead to love. At some point you have to start thinking about which of those boxes are more important and perhaps sacrificing some of the smaller stuff for the bigger picture.

You mentioned that you don’t like it when a guy tries too hard to be overtly masculine – what do you think of the validity/perception of masculinity amongst the gay community?

I think the perception is that masculine is more attractive, that will always be some people’s preference, but not all. I don’t like guys who don’t let their hair down and take themselves too seriously. Be yourself, some people will love you for it and some people wont. I like masculine guys who are happy and comfortable enough to dance like a twat to a Britney song without caring what people think. Too masculine to me isn’t sexy, I think people come across as dry and boring.

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Who’s your celebrity crush? 

Ryan Reynolds in Amityville Horror has got to be up there. Not whilst he’s trying to slaughter his family of course, at the beginning.

Don’t you think the struggle to meet a guy who can handle the banter is real? 

I’ve definitely dated people that need to get the hell over themselves and relax, but it doesn’t tend to last long as you need to be able to laugh at yourself and I realise quickly that they can’t. My mates constantly take the piss out of me and I’ve always been in that type of friendship group. When I meet someone that can laugh at themselves and take the piss a little then it’s a big plus.

Amen!
It’s quite a bold statement for a gay person to say that they don’t like gay people – what was your initial thought when Linford came out with that? 

I saw a little bit of my younger self in Linford, his views will change and I don’t truly believe that he doesn’t like gay people. He’s gay for God’s sake and if he thinks that he’s doing something right then surely he can see that others must be too. I wasn’t shocked by what he said, I just thought it was ridiculous. 

Would you rather have been on a date with Daniel May? 

HELL NO! I’d rather have a dinner date with pretty much anyone but him.

You can catch Xanthi on First Dates catch-up on 4OD, and on next week’s show.