First Dates Ireland will return to our screens on RTÉ tonight, where a host of singles will take a seat in the restaurant with a stranger they hope will become much more.

Alice Marr is the waitress who has been serving the hopeful love birds for its seven seasons.

She told Newstalk Breakfast that the eighth season is full of new stories and new love.

"The thing with first dates is you're seeing new people every evening, every date, and that keeps it fresh", she said.

But, for those wondering what happens after successful dates, Ms Marr says they're bringing back some happy couples that met on the show.

They'll share a toast and a meal to celebrate finding the one.

Successful pairings

The successful couples coming back include Shannon and Ciara who met on the show five years ago and Carla and Shez who are engaged to be married.

The latter, Ms Marr says, are a reminder that "love is not always what we expect it's going to be".

"Shez was not what Carla would've imagined when he walked in with his tattoos and his style."

Shane and Avril, another successful match, met on the First Dates pandemic series.

"That's a brilliant success, that across the long table they still found love", she said.

Waitressing First Dates

Ms Marr has a very ordinary job with an extraordinary twist — waiting tables but with the additional goal of checking in on the romantics and cynics as they navigate a sometimes rocky first date.

This wasn't her first waitressing gig, having worked in a restaurant while at college, but it was her background in acting helped her land the role.

"I was studying drama and theatre in Trinity at the time, and one of the producers, Anna Nolan, was going around looking for the waitresses and the bartender", she explained.

"She brought me in for an interview and I went in and that was it."

Rejection

Observing the spark between two people is one of the highlights of the job.

At the end of each date, pairs go on camera to say whether they'd like to go out again.

Ms Marr 'hates' when one person makes the other give their verdict first, only to reject them in the end.

"That is a complete no-no and the only people who ever do it are the people who never learn", she said.

First Dates Ireland airs on RTÉ on Thursdays at 9.30pm.