Just in time for Valentine’s Day, RTL will be showing “Heart on Board – Freshly in Love on the High Seas” from February 14th. Wayne Carpendale hosts the new dome show taking place on a cruise ship. In the interview, he unpacks how he finds Tinder and keeps his love for wife Annemarie fresh.
This has never happened before: a dating show in the middle of the high seas, in which four single women are looking for their great love on a cruise ship. Wayne Carpendale is on board to play Armor and set the couples up – no problem for someone who has been happily married for almost ten years.
What’s so special about hosting a dating show?
Wayne Carpendale: Unlike quiz shows and game shows, it’s about real life, about love. And that’s where you can turn your head, but that’s still the most entertaining topic in the world, even for the moderator.
Are you basically a fan of such formats, do you watch them privately?
My wife has many girlfriends, so I experience the drama of a dating format almost every day at home. But yes, I like these TV formats, especially when they aren’t constructed that way and it’s not just about embarrassing others. “Herz on board” is straight, honest, entertaining, funny. As a spectator, you literally go on a journey with our single women and root for them.
What’s the advantage of dating in a holiday atmosphere like in “Herz on Board”?
At home you tend to stay in your comfort zone, with your prey scheme that has always been there. On vacation you feel free, allow emotions and are open to new things. What could be nicer than an exuberant holiday flirt. In addition, it is of course much easier to forget the cameras around you in the most beautiful places in the world than, for example, in the Cologne-Ossendorf TV studio.
Is it also a disadvantage, since reality and everyday life catches up with you afterwards?
Everyone knows that too. You buy yourself a brightly colored shirt on vacation, which you wear with enthusiasm on the beach and at home in dull Germany you wonder what got into you. Holiday flirts can end similarly when you introduce them to your parents at home. But I believe that a habitual booty pattern is often the problem with longtime singles. And that’s where I come into play as a living Tinder substitute with “heart on board”.
What tips can you give female and male candidates for dating and flirting?
Well, just because my gorgeous wife said “yes” to me in a moment of mental confusion doesn’t mean I claim to be omniscient about relationship issues. But I know how painful a rejection or disappointment can be – or just the realization that I haven’t met the right person again. And it is precisely in these moments that you have to trust yourself. And not half closed, protecting his soul, but with open arms – ready to fall down again, but also full of hope to be caught by strong arms.
Do you still go on dates with your wife? How do you keep your love fresh?
In any case. But we don’t have a specific day or anything that’s just the two of us. We like to surprise each other and we just have to be careful that we don’t want to surprise each other on the same evening, which sometimes happens.
What does the perfect date look like for you?
Sometimes it’s just lying in bed and watching “Tatort” together, or watching the “Tatort” to the end without anyone falling asleep. But my favorite thing to do is take my wife to her favorite restaurant every now and then.
Do you think online dating and social media have made dating easier or more difficult?
Social media certainly doesn’t make it easier, because that’s only a very limited insight, but fuels prejudices or expectations in the other person that have to be dispelled before you even have the chance to get to know each other. On the other hand, I find online dating exciting. I would have liked to Tinder, but the app was a little late.
