Phil Penny defends awkward First Dates appearance, says Tallafornia reunion show may come on back of it

Tallafornia's Phil Penny has revealed a reunion show may be on the cards this year after his memorable appearance on First Dates Ireland.

The Dubliner (32) was one of the cast members of the controversial reality series, which followed the antics of several people living together in Tallaght.

"There's a possibility of a reunion-type show this year," Phil told the Herald.

"The old producer of Tallafornia got on to me the day after the show aired to see if I would be interested in doing a once-off episode, a reunion show to see what the cast are doing nowadays.

"There's a good possibility. I still talk to the other lads [from the show]."

Phil returned to the small screen recently on an episode of First Dates, where he was criticised by viewers on social media after asking his date, Louth woman Amy-Maria Dunne, if she had ever had cosmetic surgery.

Defending his antics, Phil said he made the comments in order to divert the conversation from his time on Tallafornia.

"I didn't want the whole date to be about that. I wanted to get to know her a bit better," he said.

"She kept bringing it [the show] up. That's when I got a bit annoyed and asked if she got her boobs done.

"I just wanted to change the conversation and make her feel as awkward as she made me feel."

Flak

However, the Tallaght man insisted he knew he would get flak because of his reality TV history.

"I was aware going into it. I knew because I was on Tallafornia, I knew I would get a lot more 'hate'," he said.

"I knew there was a good chance the girl would have recognised me and that's exactly what happened."

Although the show's producers try to match people with similar interests, Phil reckoned he and his date didn't have much in common.

"Our personalities were very different, everything was different except for the fact we both had tattoos."

While he's had his fair share of online jibes, Phil has had more pleasant experiences with people in person.

"It's very easy to just sit and type on a keyboard. When you're out, people are mostly nice to you," he added.

Herald