Country singer Kenny Rogers tells a wry story about his first date with fifth and current wife, Wanda, nearly 20 years ago. There’s a 28-year-age difference between Rogers (73) and Wanda (45), who now also share six-year-old identical twins, Jordan and Justin.

But as Kenny tells it, their first date was almost their last date when Wanda turned out in “this little black dress with a big yellow bow on it.

“I swear to God, she looked like she was 19-years-old,” says Kenny. “And I said, ‘Look, let’s make a deal. You dress a little older, I’ll dress a little younger, and we’ll meet somewhere in here. We can do this.’”

Happy Ending

It’s perhaps a cautionary tale for women thinking about making a good impression on a first date – Rule No 1 – dress appropriately. Lucky for Kenny and Wanda, they had the good humour and a strong enough attraction to get over it…

At the time, as Kenny recalls it, Wanda was a 26-year-old college student waitressing in a restaurant and Kenny was eating out with another date… But he liked Wanda’s smile, he said, and asked the manager to give her his phone number. She thought it was a joke.

“Tacky isn’t it?” he told a CBS interviewer

“I threw it in the trash,” Wanda says. “And when they all dove after it, I knew, well, maybe it’s not a joke”.

Although the couple didn’t plan on having a family, on his 50^th anniversary tour last year Kenny proudly played a screen montage of Wanda and his young sons as he sang To Me (from the album 1997 Across My Heart).

Not every first dating saga has such a happy ending.

Ten First Date Turn Offs

Most men won’t expect you to look as gorgeous as Wanda, Kenny’s wife does, but a few general guidelines will help smooth your pathway to a pleasant first meeting with the promise of more to come:

1)      Do not get drunk.

2)      Don’t tell embarrassing stories from high school

3)      Never talk about your ex

4)      Don’t put him through the third degree on how much he earns

5)      Never mention kids or marriage

6)      Never refer to yourself in the third person – no it’s not cute.

7)      Don’t size up other men in the room like you’re looking for better options

8)      Dress appropriately

9)      Go light on the make-up

10)     Don’t try too hard. Don‘t laugh at every joke, or try and refer every remark he makes back to your own life. That just smacks of desperation.

So What Turns You Off?

Love to hear your thoughts on the things that you find off putting about a woman’s behaviour or appearance on a first date. Does she come across as too keen, or not keen enough? Does she boast about her job as a message she doesn’t need a man, or is she too clingy and needy? How can a woman strike the right balance between confidence and being too bossy?  We’d love to hear your thoughts.

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About the author

Jenny W