Irish gay dating show contestant reveals why he didn't mind being axed from programme
Galway's Rory Jennings didn't mind getting the boot because he got to share a bottle of bubbles with an Aussie icon
Rory says his appearance on I Kissed A Boy was a full-circle moment for him
An Irish contestant on a gay TV dating show reveals that the best thing about being first to being kicked off the programme was ending up spending the night with Dannii Minogue.
But Galway lad Rory Jennings smiles as he stresses all they shared together was a bottle of prosecco.
Rory (23), from Salthill, is a mental health graduate and part time model, who's currently working in London with Britain's NHS helping gambling addicts.
Viewers of BBC1/3's I Kissed A Boy dating programme – in which 10 gay young men share an Italian villa hosted by Danni Minogue in their search for love – being dumped last Tuesday night.
But handsome Rory could do little to being axed, as a lad he was smitten with, Jordan B, chose another guy to be matched with, Jordan R, resulting in him being the only one not chosen in the pairings-off.
'Sure look it happens, it was an experience anyways, so it's grand,' he pipes up.
I Kissed A Boy. Credit: BBC / Two Four Broadcast Ltd / Corinne Cumming
'Being so self-critical and ashamed of my sexuality as a teenager in Ireland, going onto I Kissed a Boy was such a full-circle moment for me and my emotional development, and I got to do it alongside a bunch of hotties.'
Rory likes to observe and figure people out before making a move romantically, and when it comes to drama, he says he would rather watch the drama than be part of it.
He lists Michael B Jordan, Joey Essex and Troye Sivan as his dream boys.
He admits he was smitten on the show with cute retail store manager Jordan B (25), who hails from England's Lake District and now lives in Manchester.
'I think it was his buzz cut. I like them, and he was a bit older,' he beams. 'There was something about him that was really kind of masculine that I liked.
'There was a bit of flirting going on, we never got to know each other that deeply though, but it wasn't that long. It didn't really work out, so I was first on my merry way.'
Jordan B ended up choosing Jordan R, with Rory confirming that because both of them had a parent who died when they were quite young, they seemed to bond over that.
'That connection was a bit deeper than I had with Jordan, so I kind of know that it was going to go that way,' he admits.
Rory with Jordan B on the show
'I was like 'if it happens it happens', I wasn't too put out.'
But Jordan B ended up getting itchy feet again and dumped Jordan R for fellow housemate Callum
'I was saying he was getting excited with all the boys around and was putting his fingers in the pie to see what he'd like,' smirks Rory.
Rory's eyes didn't stray to the rest of the housemates.
'I loved them all as friends and I would kind of be the person with friendships first and then maybe if it developed,' he stresses.
'Maybe if I had of been in there longer, I could have had a connection that way, but in terms of like anyone I would have had my eye on romantically, not really.'
After Rory left another young Irish guy, Hugh from Cork, joined the fun in the villa.
'I have gone for people similar to him before,' he confirms Rory. 'Then obviously he's Irish, so we would have had that. I have met him since and we get on well, but I think it's more platonic.'
Rory also had a bonus on being first to leave the house, when he got up close and personal with Dannii.
'Dannii is lovely, she's so nice. Really really warm,' he raves. 'When I got dumped, we went off afterwards me and Dannii, we had a bottle of prosecco, my claim to fame. I was buzzing with Dannii Minogue can you get any better?!.'
He has been single for two years.
Rory says his appearance on I Kissed A Boy was a full-circle moment for him
News in 90 Seconds - May 30th
'I'm as single as ever, for the past two years on and off,' he reflects.
'I haven't found the one. I'm a bit picky. A sense of humour is really important to me, so I think I'm waiting for someone to be really funny.'
He's not a fan of dating apps.
'I have used them before, I haven't recently, they are a bit boring and repetitive,' he complains. 'Anywhere I've met anyone before it's been organic and hasn't been on a dating app.'
Jordan B, Jas, and Rory on the show
After he finished school Rory initially tried Business Studies in Dublin's Trinity College before dropping out and taking up Psychology, which he studied for four years in Belfast.
It was in Belfast he had his longest relationship, for a year.
At 6' and with his chiselled looks, Rory was snapped up by a Dublin model agency.
He also explains confusion over his first name.
'I was called Ruairi when I was born and I'm christened Ruairi, but when I was in school people had trouble pronouncing it and the odd teacher couldn't pronounce it, which was mad in Galway, so I changed it to Rory when I was 14 or 15 and was impressionable,' he reveals.
'So, it stuck and now I'm called Rory the whole time.'
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