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​'First Dates' Instigates Debate About Whether Or Not Women Should Foot The Bill

​'First Dates' Instigates Debate About Whether Or Not Women Should Foot The Bill

Their exchange divided viewers, with some backing Cecilia's headstrong approach, while others thought she was 'emasculating' Viv

Jess Hardiman

Jess Hardiman

While everyone's been bickering about the chicken-and-egg, scone pronunciation and Marmite dramas, there's another debate that's been quietly raging on, which was brought up in a recent episode of First Dates: who should foot the bill on a date? It proved to be such a contentious topic, that things got very awkward...

In the episode, 23-year-old parliamentary researcher Cecilia tried to insist on paying for the meal on her date with business developer Viv, 26.

But her date wasn't having any of it, begging her to let him 'be a gentleman' by paying for the two of them - something that then led to a bit of a stand-off when waitress Laura came over to settle up.

"Give me one rational reason why you should," Cecilia argued.

"There's no rational reason why a woman shouldn't pay".

Viv told her to 'shut up', before the pair eventually met in the middle and agreed to go Dutch, splitting the bill.

Their exchange also divided viewers, with some backing Cecilia's headstrong approach.

Channel 4

"Ok, I love Cecilia - what a beautiful, strong, powerful woman," one wrote on Twitter.

"Well done for standing that split the #FirstDates bill ground Cecilia. No compromise on respect!" another said.

But not everyone agreed with Cecilia, instead taking Viv's side - who some believe was to some degree 'emasculated'.

"Can't believe this girl on First Dates had a go at the guy for saying he'd pay for the bill... apparently chivalry is dead," one person wrote.

Another said: "Cecila wanting to pay was I believe her way of emasculating her date. He wanted to be chivalrous. It all ended badly. Both should have handled it better and went for the split first."

Someone else posted: "I consider myself to be a feminist but Cecilia is quite insufferable. Paying the bill doesn't have to be a gender equality debate. Calm down. Halve it. All done."

Channel 4

In the post-date interview, Cecilia referred to Viv's response as 'irrational', while Viv reckoned his date was being stubborn.

Cecilia said: "I thought it was completely irrational. It was really unnecessary and quite uncalled for."

She also said that she's often underestimated by men because of her looks, adding: "Most guys think the summation of me is the way I look."

Viv explained that it could be a bit of a deal-breaker if Cecilia continued to refuse his 'gentlemanly' ways.

He said: "I think she's realised I'm just as stubborn as she is, and she's frankly going to have to get used to that if this is going to carry on."

Personally, I reckon you should pay equally whether you're a man, woman, dog, cat, whatever - and if someone happens to get the bill it'll just be your turn to do so next time. A nice excuse for a second date, no?

Whatever you do, though, don't ever bicker in front of a waiter, who literally just wants your money and doesn't care who it comes from. That's really annoying.

What do you think?

Featured Image Credit: Channel 4

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, first dates, UK, Channel 4