First Dates’ Shadi Alexander strikes out again

SPOILER ALERT: Unlucky-in-love Shadi Alexander refuses to give up on pursuing his second failed First Date — as he prepares to appear for a third time on the show.

SHE may have ‘bro-zoned’ him on First Dates, but Shadi Alexander hasn’t given up on Milanka Manks, the 26 year-old model-turned-security-officer who turned him down on the show.

“We’re still really good friends. We speak every couple of days,” he said.

“She was a 100 per cent match. And I’m going to make it work — I’ll do anything for her. She’s perfect!”

So what went wrong?

Alexander said it was his similarity to one of Manks’ good friends that was his undoing.

“It was good on the date — but I think she didn’t like me because I looked like Aiden, her best friend,” he explained.

“She said, ‘I’ve known him so long. It’s like me wanting to date someone who reminds me of my brother!’”

Shadi Alexander is begging Milenka Manks for a second chance after failing on First Dates. Picture: Norm Oorloff

But while Manks admitted that did throw her, by her account, there was more to it than that.

“I’m sure the chemistry looked great, because I was laughing a lot — he’s an entertainer, so he’s a funny guy — but I kind of felt like it was ‘The Shadi Show’,” she said.

“I felt like he was more interested in talking about himself than wanting to get to know me ... And when you’re on a date, you want it to at least seem like the guy is interested in you.”

Although Alexander lives in Melbourne and Manks is based in Sydney, the pair have kept in touch. They were only just flirtatiously bantering back and forth on Manks’ Facebook page.

“Manks, I’m not sure if you are an interior decorator by any chance? [SIC] Because when you walked in you made the entire room beautiful!” he quipped.

For now, Alexander is not giving up without a fight.

Milanka Manks, said it felt like “The Shadi Show’ during their date. Picture: Supplied.

“He has called me for advice on people he likes and stuff, so …” Manks said. “And I like helping guys out with girls.

“Actually [now I think about it] this could be a decoy — he might be trying to suss out if I like him?

Jokes aside, Alexander admitted he was disappointed when things didn’t progress to a second date.

“When I got back to my hotel after the date, I ordered the biggest pizza, and had a cry,” he said.

“I was watching some Bosnian movie with subtitles on SBS doing, “What the hell is going on here? Why did she say no?!’”

But there could be hope.

“I admit, I do ‘Bro-zone’ every guy I meet,” Manks said. “But I’m waiting for that guy who’s going to be resilient and say, ‘No — I’m not going to be bro-zoned.’

And if that fails, there’s always the next episode, where Alexander is back for a third chance at love. And you know what they say — third time’s the charm.