NBC reality show will divulge details tonight for Chattanooga area's Chad White, Bethany Holtsclaw

Chad White graduated from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2015 and now works as a local news producer for WXIA, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta. He ran across a posting online seeking singles for the reality TV show "First Dates" and thought, "Why not?"
Chad White graduated from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2015 and now works as a local news producer for WXIA, the NBC affiliate in Atlanta. He ran across a posting online seeking singles for the reality TV show "First Dates" and thought, "Why not?"
photo Bethany Holtsclaw will appear on "First Dates," a reality show on NBC.

For four years, Chad White, 23, and Bethany Holtsclaw, 27, lived within a half hour's drive of each other - in Chattanooga and Cleveland, respectively. They wouldn't meet until they flew to Chicago for a TV show.

In 2015, they were chosen as a potential love match by producers with NBC's new dating reality show, "First Dates." Their how-we-met story will be featured on tonight's episode (8 p.m., Comcast channel 4, EPBFI channel 3 in Chattanooga).

In each episode of "First Dates," multiple couples are paired up on blind dates on a single night at an upscale Chicago restaurant, MK. The evening plays out like a real first date, with all the awkwardness that might entail. For five couples in each episode, every moment - from the time they approach the entrance, to their introduction by the maitre d' to their table conversation, even trips to the restroom for surreptitious calls to friends - is captured on hidden cameras and subject to broadcast.

Produced by Ellen DeGeneres and based on a long-running series in the United Kingdom, the show takes a low-key approach to its love matches, trading in charm rather than competition. Participants get to know each other over dinner - sometimes sparks fly, sometimes one will leave before the food arrives - and then they sit down for a brief interview afterward.

The TV date ends with the same question any first date hinges on, except this one is answered in front of millions of viewers: Would you like to go on a second date?

The show premiered April 7 with two local residents paired with two Nashvillians. Richard Dubé, 66, found a like mind with his date, Jeannette. Katheryn Golden, 29, had less luck with her blind date, Woody.

At least two other contestants with local ties were selected for the show. One declined a newspaper interview. The other, Ben Francis, will be featured on May 26, the first season's final episode. NBC has not announced whether the show will be renewed. Its British counterpart is eyeing an eighth season.

White and Holtsclaw can't divulge how their date went, but both speak positively of the experience.

A temporary Chattanoogan

For Chad White, Atlanta is home, but when it came time to attend college, "I chose something out of my element," he says. "I chose Chattanooga."

The out-of-state tuition was "an expensive experiment," he laughs.

White arrived at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2011 and graduated in 2015 with a degree in writing. During his college stint, he worked part-time leasing apartments for the Riverview Grande in North Chattanooga and as a server at Taco Mac downtown.

He now works as a local news producer for the NBC affiliate in Atlanta, WXIA.

He was home in Atlanta searching out stories for a previous newsgathering job when he ran across an online posting for "First Dates."

"I thought, 'Why not?'" he recalls. "I clicked on it. A day or two later, the producers emailed me and wanted to have a little interview with me. That went well. I got picked up [for the show], and the rest is history."

White says he thoroughly enjoyed the experience. "I would do it at least once a week," he says.

Which would give him opportunity to perfect his game, he muses. He laughs at his recollection of the evening with Holtsclaw. "We just talked," he says, "and I told a lot of dumb jokes."

White says he was impressed by how "classily" the production was handled.

"I didn't feel like a meat product parading into a fancy restaurant," he says. "I really felt like it was something that could have happened in real life. It was just a good night out."

Sure, there were nerves, he admits, but the good kind.

"There's nothing that can capture what you feel when you walk in [for dinner] with someone you don't know. You don't know what's going to happen. The next hour and a half can be the greatest hour and a half you've ever had or the worst. It's a sublime journey to go on."

White is looking forward to seeing previews for the show (now posted at www.nbc.com/first-dates/video/next-tower-of-questions/3514580) but during an early newspaper interview he says he "has no earthly idea about anything. We shot promos, but I've seen no clips, no gifs, no pictures at all."

"I would love to," he adds. "I'm a very handsome boy."

As for the second date: Would he? Did he? "Well, I had a good time" is all he will say. "She was a very lovely lady."

A singing nurse

Bethany Holtsclaw had a lot of help from her grandmothers for her appearance on "First Dates."

One grandmother "found the article and told me I should apply," Holtsclaw says. "I told her she was crazy. I kind of applied as a joke. I honestly had no idea they would pick me to be on the show."

The other grandmother bought her outfit: a little black dress with a hem that hits below the knee - "because I'm not a hussy," she laughs - and a pearl and diamond-look inlay at the neck.

"Nothing that had cleavage," Holtsclaw reports. "I wasn't sure what the camera angles would be, and I didn't want it to be all boob. It's fairly conservative, but still sexy."

The weirdest part for her was not knowing what to expect. The only reality show she has ever watched is "Chopped" on the Food Network.

"I'm not really into reality TV, so I walked in completely blind. I didn't know how it would end, but I felt like it was an awesome opportunity that not everyone else gets."

A 2007 graduate of Walker Valley High School in Cleveland, Holtsclaw is a nurse practitioner at Apple Corporate Wellness, a practice on Shallowford Road that offers chronic pain relief and stem cell research. Originally, she thought her life's path might involve singing. She took voice lessons for more than a decade and studied opera at Tennessee Wesleyan University.

"A couple of years in, I realized music was math, and I hate math, so I quit," she explains. "I still love to sing. I have a passion for it."

Weddings and funerals are her usual gigs these days, but producers were interested in hearing her voice. She sang TLC's R&B hit "No Scrubs" in her video interview and the hymn "Amazing Grace" on-set.

"I wasn't warmed up, and I probably sounded terrible," she laments. "If the world is going to hear me sing, I'd rather it be better than it was."

Of course, neither she nor White know what part of their date or personal interviews will be included in their segment. Going in, Holtsclaw says she was concerned about how the clips would be edited. It helped that DeGeneres, known for her nonconfrontational manner on her talk show, was involved.

"The only reason I did it was because it was produced by Ellen DeGeneres," she says.

"And I do like to tell that Drew Barrymore has now seen my face," she adds, laughing. "She's the narrator. She had to see my face [to do the voice-over]. Now Drew Barrymore knows how pretty I am."

Holtsclaw says her nerves were calmed once her date with White started.

"After the first five minutes, you forget [your concerns]," she says. "Because he was very charming and funny, I completely forgot the cameras were around. There's no telling what I said."

Her first impression was "he had a beautiful smile," she says. "He is so charming and so funny. It's one of the best dates I've ever been on. He was very nice, very polite, very funny. I like a man who can make me laugh."

The almost two-year lag time between filming and airing the show made Holtsclaw think producers had decided not to feature her date with White on-air.

"I had actually resigned myself to the fact that they decided not to use my footage," she says. "It's kind of funny for me, because I feel like a completely different person than I was then.

"I have bangs now," she explains. "You change your hair, you change your personality."

Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281.

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