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TV's Blind Date couple renew wedding vows

BBC Sue and Alex Tatham inside the church with a stained glass window and candles behind them. Both are wearing jackets and standing on red carpet.BBC
The pair have celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary

A couple who got married after meeting on the TV show Blind Date have renewed their wedding vows.

Alex and Sue Tatham, from Pelsall, Walsall, became the first couple to tie the knot after meeting on the classic dating programme in 1988.

The pair have celebrated their 33rd wedding anniversary and renewed their vows on Sunday at the village's St Michael & All Angels Church – where they wed on 19 October 1991.

Blind Date, hosted by the late Cilla Black, ran on ITV between 1985 and 2003. The presenter and her husband Bobby attended the wedding.

ITV/Rex Features Cilla Black, wearing a grey hat and grey and cream shawl, stands next to Alex and Sue Tatham. Alex is wearing a black suit, white shirt and yellow tie, while Sue wears a wedding dress and veil and holds a bouquet of white flowers. All of them are smiling and looking happy.ITV/Rex Features
Alex and Sue Tatham met on popular dating show Blind Date and married in 1991

Mrs Tatham said she had gone on the programme after a friend first applied on her behalf.

She and her husband were sent for a first date in Ireland where she said they had "got on straight away" and "laughed a lot".

"We just went for it, we were chaperoned around and had a very lovely time," she said.

Sue and Alex Tatham are seen over the shoulder of a woman with blonde hair who they are facing. They are holding hands as they stand side by side in a church with empty red seats behind them. There is a light green wall at the back and a white wall to the right.
The couple were pictured inside the church before Sunday's ceremony

Mr Tatham said: "They took very good care of us. The joy of Blind Date is you get to see [each] other again because you're forced to watch that bit on the sofa a week later.

"It was absolutely the show of the moment. I guess it would be like applying to be on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire or Love Island."

A church with orange bricks and a red door, surrounded by graves and a brick wall. There are trees to the right and one on the left.
St Michael & All Angels Church marked its 180th anniversary on Sunday

The church where the couple got married has celebrated its 180th anniversary this weekend, with a wedding fair and service of celebrations.

It was "totally coincidental" the anniversary happened to fall on the pair's wedding anniversary, Mr Tatham said.

"It's been offering fantastic marriages for 180 years," he said.

"Pelsall is a wonderful community and you can really feel the energy of the whole village as it comes out to support that church. I think it's wonderful."

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