Walsall's TV Blind Date bride and hubby go viral 35 years on after chance TikTok chat

Happy couple Sue and Alex Tatham met on Cilla Black's television show in 1988 and were the first contestants to get married as a result of the popular matchmaking reality show.

Now their love story, which saw more than 17.5 million viewers tune in to a special Blind Date wedding episode, is taking the internet by storm after they were stopped in a London street by a visiting TikTok account, Meet Cutes NYC.

They were approached at random and asked how they met.

The wedding that was recorded for the show took place at St Michael's Church, in Pelsall, where Sue's parents Barrie and Barbara Middleton lived in October 1991.

Alex, 58, says: "I couldn't believe it. It was so random. They could have stopped a million people. They just happened to stop us."

Sue, 56, says that it was an "exciting" thing to have happened as they don't get recognised where they live and have a "normal quiet life".

"We've gone viral, we've never gone viral", she adds after the new TikTok video attracted 3.5 million views.

The couple say the key to their long relationship is "laughing" a lot and "saying sorry".

Around 5,000 wellwishers gathered outside the church when Sue, at the time a recruitment consultant, and Old Etonian Alex, an accountant, tied the knot hoping to catch a glimpse of them and their celebrity guest. The nuptials were followed by a honeymoon in Mauritius.

Months later the couple returned to the church on Christmas Eve to celebrate the midnight service.

Cilla Black's London Weekend show sent the couple on a romantic date to Ireland for a medieval banquet to see if they got in, and 35 years later they are still very much in love.

Just three Blind Date couples went on to marry. Others were Piers and Andrea Liron who are also still together and pensioners David and Lillian Fensom who have since died.

Celebrated presenter Cilla Black died following a fall eight years ago, aged 72.