The top film-inspired date involves a trip to IKEA, and who says romance is dead?

Virgin Radio

2 Dec 2021, 10:33

We’ve all watched characters in a film or a TV show go on an interesting date, and wished we were actually on that date ourselves. Whether it’s The Notebook’s rowing boat trip, or the cookery class in Hitch, there are loads of really great date ideas in movies and shows.

With this in mind, a dating app called POM, which matches people based on their emotional connection to music, has undertaken a study of Brits, to find the TV and movie-inspired first dates that are most likely to be successful.

And the fictional date that most people would like to replicate might come as something of a surprise, as it involves a trip to IKEA.

The IKEA trip was seen in offbeat romcom, 500 Days of Summer, which starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel, and an impressive 95% of people who took part in the study said that it would lead them to go on a second date afterwards.

POM’s study saw 50 single Brits go on dates which replicated those seen on the telly and in cinema, with participants then rating their overall experience and likelihood that it would result in another date. Everyone involved was asked to rank each date on the activity rather than the company! 

The dates - which were funded by POM and involved people from range of backgrounds, locations, gender, sexual orientations, and ages - included Parks and Recreation’s scavenger hunt, and dating in the dark, as seen in About Time. Daters also went clubbing just like Gavin, Stacey, Nessa and Smithy did the first time they got together in hit UK sitcom Gavin and Stacey. Lush! 

Whilst dating in the dark ranked quite highly, in fifth, going out to eat broadly scored lower than dates which involved actually doing something, with 91% of participants saying that dates involving a physical activity were the best for ‘breaking the ice’.

Vihan Patel, founder of POM, said: “A fairy tale romance is what many of us look for, whether we admit it or not. When we watch TV or films we are inundated with romance as fictional couples go on incredible dates and appear to have the time of their lives. Therefore, we wanted to discover what on-screen dating moments in history are actually the best dates to go on for a good time.”

Here are the top 10 TV and movie-inspired dates as rated by singletons, according to POM’s study:

1. IKEA trip - as seen in 500 Days of Summer

2. Cookery class - as seen in Hitch

3. Scavenger hunt - as seen in Parks and Recreation

4. Rowing boat trip - as seen in The Notebook

5. Dating in the dark (visiting a blind restaurant) - as seen in About Time

6. Nightclubbing - as seen in Gavin and Stacey

7. Paintballing - as seen in 10 Things I Hate About You

8. Drinks at the pub - as seen in The Holiday

9. Watching live sport - as seen in The Break-up

10. Karaoke - as seen in High School Musical