First Dates star returns to show after coming out as gay: ‘It was quite special’

First Dates will tonight see the return of a familiar face, as a participant who first went on the Channel 4 show to find a wife is back to find himself a husband.

William Laven appeared on First Dates in 2024 when he was 24, and it literally was his first date ever. He was matched with Zara and they walked off into the distance hand-in-hand, however he has since come out as gay.

Laven, who is neurodivergent and grew up with a stammer, tells PinkNews that, at the time, “dating was still something [he] found quite nerve-wracking”.

But, he adds: “I’m quite an all-or-nothing person, so I thought I’d apply for First Dates. Why not? It’s not every day you get the chance to have your first ever date on national television.”

Laven, who launched Stammer Stories, says dating on television is “terrifying”, but: “You do get to a point where you completely forget the cameras are there.”

Since his first televised date, the public speaker has come out, at the age of 27, and says: “I’ve become much more comfortable with myself.”

He tells us: “There’s this idea that you should know who you are from a really young age, but that wasn’t my experience.”

Laven says he had “always wanted to fit in” and “tried to work out why [he] wasn’t really feeling what [he] thought [he] was supposed to feel” when dating women.

‘I’ve become much more comfortable with myself’

But when he grew close to a gay friend, “something just clicked”. He says: “I was experiencing feelings I’d never really had before and it made me start questioning things. The more I thought about it, the more things started to make sense.”

Laven adds: “It was emotional, but I never felt that I was doing the wrong thing. When I finally accepted it, it was like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I hadn’t even realised how much I was carrying until it was gone.”

He decided to return to First Dates after having more experience in the dating world and feeling “so much more confident”.

“I wanted to go back and enjoy the experience,” he says. “I suppose I also wanted people who might have been in a similar position to see that things can change.

“You might not feel ready for something today, but that doesn’t mean you’ll always feel that way.”

He adds: “Going back to the same restaurant, a couple of years later, with a completely different outlook on life was quite special.”

Laven says that being neurodivergent adds an extra layer to dating, as he “can definitely overthink things”. He says: “I’ve never wanted to hide being neurodivergent. I genuinely love that part of me.

“I call my stammer my superpower and without it I wouldn’t have started Stammer Stories or had so many of the experiences I’ve had.”

Coming out at 27 and entering the gay dating scene as a neurodivergent person left him questioning if he’d “feel even more vulnerable”. But, he says: “What I hadn’t expected was how many neurodivergent people I’d meet within the LGBTQ+ community. It was actually quite comforting.

“I started meeting people who understood different ways of thinking and communicating and I didn’t feel like I had to explain myself all the time.

‘I want someone who makes me laugh, who I can be myself around’

“I think that’s something I hadn’t really appreciated before. There are so many people who share similar experiences and sometimes you just need to find your people.”

Laven says he’s stopped worrying so much about if people will accept him, and doesn’t change himself to make others feel more comfortable.

“I want someone who makes me laugh, who I can be myself around and who accepts all the little things that make me who I am,” he tells us. “And if someone doesn’t like my stammer, that’s absolutely fine. I probably wouldn’t want a second date anyway!”

Viewers will have to tune in to First Dates at 10pm tonight on Channel 4 to see if he wants a second date with his match.

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