Melinda Messenger introduces her 'First Dates' boyfriend to the 'Loose Women' panel

Melinda Messenger has put her new boyfriend to the ultimate relationship test – by introducing him to the Loose Women panel.

It’s daunting enough for anyone to meet their new partner’s friends, but when those friends are the outspoken Loose Women ladies and you’re meeting them on live TV, it must be absolutely terrifying.

However, Chris Harding’s debut on the show went off almost without a hitch – until the thorny subject of marriage was broached.

Messenger met Harding when she was the celebrity side of a blind date for Stand Up To Cancer’s special version of Channel 4 matchmaking show First Dates.

It turned out that she and Harding got on brilliantly and had crossed paths before – he had photographed her at a wedding once – and they’ve now been dating for around four months.

Messenger, who had sworn off looking for love after her marriage to Wayne Roberts ended in heartbreak, said: “When you decide you’re happy being single, that’s when you meet someone. We just clicked, we felt like we’d known each other forever.”

She even admitted: “We said we loved each other pretty early on, actually.”

But despite even Messenger’s children giving Harding the seal of approval, he clashed with her TV mates over one subject.

When the panel asked if they’d discussed marriage yet, Harding replied: “I’ve never been married and I’ve never been the marrying type, if you want to stay with someone you will. It’s early days.”

He was shouted down with boos and cries of “rubbish!” from the Loose Women at the idea of not being the marrying kind, and they half-jokingly told him that if he wanted to keep his new girlfriend, he’d have to change.

However, Messenger did say that they had survived a camping trip together, which everyone agreed was a good barometer of being able to weather storms.

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