30 Dates, One Year On … The Original Pimpernel

Posted on August 28, 2014 in 30 Dates, One Year Later

The 30 Dates nicknames became a bit of a thing last year. I would be halfway through a date, and the guy would turn to me and ask “so have you decided what my name is gonna be yet?!”

Of all the names, I think The Original Pimpernel and The Fake Pimpernel were my favourites, simply because of the stories which accompanied the nicknames.

The Original Pimpernel is no stranger to dating blogs. In fact when our mutual friend arranged the date, she explained that all their friends called him ‘The Pimpernel’ because of a name an ex-girlfriend had secretly given him on a blog she’d written.

This time last year, my life was crazy. On a daily basis I would receive calls and texts from phone numbers I didn’t recognise. I was constantly answering my phone to men who I’d never met before. And so, after discussing ‘The Pimpernel’ with my friend, and hearing that several of her female friends were reading the blog, I took a call one morning at work, from a guy who described himself as “so and so’s friend”. Ok, so he obviously didn’t actually say “so and so”, but whatever name he said, I’d never heard of! I assumed it was another one of the girls in The Pimpernel’s friendship group. I’d been expecting to hear from him, so I confidently carried on, laughing that I didn’t know his real name, and that my friend had only called him The Pimpernel. The guy on the other end of the phone reacted pretty well to that statement, and carried on chatting. It was only a few days later that we actually realised he wasn’t The Pimpernel! He was another date, set up by a friend of a friend of a friend! Talk about crossed wires!

And so the Original Pimpernel and The Fake Pimpernel were born!

This 30 Dates, One Year On feature was actually the Fake Pimpernel’s idea (and he’ll be featuring on the blog next month). He was a rather loud, crazy character, who earned the nickname F-Pimp, taking me to the circus with Madonna! Meanwhile the Original Pimpernel was a whole different kettle of fish!

The Original Pimpernel was one of the most refined, dapper guys I met last summer. A really genuinely lovely guy, when he texted to tell me he was ‘rather reptilian looking’ I assumed he was just being down on himself! Nope, it turns out he was wearing a crocodile outfit to meet me, for our date to London Zoo! A welcome surprise, when the guy I’d expected was someone in full tweed, with no sense of humour!

We had a lovely brunch in Belsize Park, before wondering around the Zoo in the sunshine. It was during our date that The Original Pimpernel pointed out how much easier shy people (and men!) find it to talk side by side, as opposed to face on.

So what has the Original Pimpernel been up to this past year?

One of the youngest of my 30 Dates, the 25 year-old Pimpernel has been single all year. His quarter life crisis (my joke, not his!) has seen him buy a sports car (which looks incredibly cool from the photos!)

I love that when I asked The Original Pimpernel if he’s still single, his response was “HELL YEAH!”, embracing the same enthusiasm we have for single life here on the blog!

He describes his 1960s open-top sports car as “a great addition to the dating arsenal!” (which just makes me think of Bridget Jones in Daniel Cleaver’s car, getting her hair all knotted up in the wind).

So what’s the worst date The Original Pimpernel has been on this year? ” Although it ended well, the tennis doubles date I had this summer was pretty dire on court. I was badly hungover (it was a morning session with two friends and the date) and had a bit of a shocker of a match, the culmination of which was when I smashed a winner into my date’s stomach. I would like to the claim the point was worth it but it was a pretty low point in my dating career. Fortunately, I think I redeemed myself with brunch at mine a healthy amount of Bloody Marys.”

And his best date? “There are a couple of contenders, both of which are painfully unexciting for the purposes of this blog. One featured the aforementioned new purchase and involved a drive out of central London on a summer evening in July to Alexandra Palace where we had a picnic in the car overlooking the city – good chat and good views made for a lovely evening. The night ended with a leisurely rumble through central London, driving through the Mall and past Buckingham Palace.”

So what has The Original Pimpernel learned from his full year of unattached dating?

“Tinder is the root of all evil in the dating world!”

I have to say, it amuses me no end to hear a man say that, when as a woman my phone is increasingly full of more and more unrequited dick shots! 😉 Thank you so much to The Original Pimpernel for returning to 30 Dates. I really was lucky to have him as my Date Number 13 of 30, and I have no doubt there are queues of lovely ladies out there waiting for a spin in his awesome car!

Miss Twenty-Nine xxx

Have you missed some of the other 30 Dates, One Year On … ?

The Attic Mouse

The One With The Sign