CBC MARKETPLACE: SERVICES » ONLINE DATING
The Marketplace Dating Challenge
Broadcast: Mar 16, 2004
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They've never met - never spoken over the phone. But they have seen each other's personal ad.

"He’s cute," Danielle says. "And he likes dogs! This is good. And gourmet cooking. Home improvement, he can fix that awning."

"Well she’s all right," Marc says. "She’s not a bad looking chick. She’s tall, I’m a little afraid of that."

Both have been deceived before. Will they again? Marketplace's cameras will be there to find out. We ask Josey Vogels to read their profiles - then to watch, for signs of deception.

Marc and Danielle meet.

"He looks nothing like his picture," Vogels said. "I’m sorry. I don’t know who he got to take the picture."

We put Danielle's claim that she's creative and enjoys sculpting to the test. We send them to a studio where they'll be making a pinch pot - and we listen to the conversation:

Danielle: You'll have a souvenir.

Marc: Yeah, my children will love that. Great. They’ll probably break it in no time.

Danielle: How many children do you have?

Marc: Two.

Danielle: Great, how old are they?

Marc: Yeah, single daddy, uh, ten and eleven, a girl and a boy.

No mention of kids in Marc's profile. Is that deceiving?

"It’s a tough one," Vogels said. "I do think it’s probably a good idea to mention your kids because that’s a big deal for a lot of people. But at the same time, it kind of feels a bit unfair to write you off because you have kids."

Danielle: You skydive?

Marc: Yeah, I do, do it all the time.

Danielle: Do you? And where do you go?

Marc: Well not, not all the time because I’m not rich enough but…

Danielle: Where do you go?

Marc: If, if I find a rich girl, she’s probably gonna pay for all my skydiving.

Danielle: Really? Is that your plan?

"She's a good conversationalist," Vogels said. "He hasn’t asked her a single question about her. She’s asked him all questions about him."

Danielle appears to pass the test of her profile - that she's interested in clay sculpting. As for Marc - one of his interests, according to his profile, is gourmet cooking. We have him cook her a dinner. At his place, he offers her wine. He did say he enjoys wine tasting.

"They’re drinking out of beer glasses," Vogels notes. "[A connoisseur wouldn't] drink wine out of a beer glass."

Marc: I made some homemade spaghetti sauce.

Danielle: Lovely.

Marc: I hope you like meat.

Danielle: I do. I do.

Marc: I think I already have some extra virgin in there but we’re gonna put a little more, there you go olive oil, beautiful. But you know what? I’d rather go to the restaurant and have a real good meal there, than cooking.

Danielle: But I thought you were the gourmet cook?

That doesn't sit well with our relationship expert.

"He said he likes gourmet cooking but he prefers to go to a restaurant?"

Getting ready

Vogels said. "I haven’t seen anything very gourmet yet. I mean, he can cook, clearly. Gourmet to me implies a whole other level. Spaghetti's every guy's specialty."

Danielle: So have you been single for a long time?

Marc: Yeah ‘97 really. I was married twice, divorced twice.

Danielle: So I'm asking you tons of questions, you haven't asked me one.

Marc: Why would I ask?

Danielle: I don't know because, uh, don’t you maybe you wanna know?

Dinner wraps up and it seems inhibitions start to fade.

Danielle: So you have to keep in shape I guess because of your…

Marc: Yeah I don’t look too much in shape.

Danielle: You look in shape, let’s see those muscles. Can you show me?

Marc: There's no muscles…

Danielle: Come on let’s try, come on show me. Are you getting shy?

Marc: Yeah.

Danielle: Don’t be shy. Let’s see that hairy chest.

Later, they part, each saying they enjoyed the other's company - and we ask our relationship expert - Josey Vogels - what she learned about Marc that wasn't in his profile.

"He didn’t talk about anything about his personal life. He didn’t even mention that he had kids," Vogels said. "I think he probably could have stood to put a little more of himself into his profile. If he wants to be successful with online dating, he needs to be better at marketing himself."

And what about Danielle?

"Her profile was very accurate. I think I really got a reflection of how she advertised herself and how she presented herself. She was very outgoing, as she said. She was very much someone who was in control of her environment and very much ran the evening, in a way."

And what do Marc and Danielle think of each other?

"A great personality, very full of life," Marc said. "Very attractive, beautiful curves, intelligent."

No sparks

"He’s either really shy and insecure or he likes himself a lot. [It wasn't] until the very end, I think, he felt a little more comfortable in asking me a few more questions."

Marc noted that as far as her profile's concerned, Danielle came as advertised. Danielle noted that much of Marc's profile was accurate as well. But -

"He didn’t really mention anything about his kids, that he’d been married a couple of times. Look, we don’t know anything about him as a guy, as a human being, as a person," Danielle said.

Is there a second date in the future?

"I’d probably go out with her you know," Marc said. "She’s very swell, she’s well put and I like a smart girl."

"I could hang out with him again and be his buddy," Danielle said. "I would not want to be involved in a romantic relationship with him."

"If she calls me, bingo," Marc said. "If she doesn’t, let’s go back on Lavalife."