Blind Love, Episode 7

- Pretty simple.

- I may be good at this.

- You have like thick dark hair.

- Yeah, I'm bald now.

- Oh!

- I want to go speed dating.

- We're going to accentuate certain parts of your body that mom's not going to.

- Got it.

- Rachel has no plans in moving and neither do I but, we'll definitely stay really close friends for sure.

- [Voicemail] Solomon O'Leary, hey, just wanted to tell you that I had good time hanging out the other night.

Francis Nicole, thanks I had fun.

A little crazy but fun.

- So I met a girl, named Francis, she's awesome.

We met at O'Mally's of course, but we tell family and stuff we met at a coffee shop.

- [Voicemail] I feel just a bit embarrassed.

I promise I'm not always a hot mess.

Solomon O'Leary, LOL, you were not a hot mess.

- The night we met we talked for like 2 1/2 hours, just straight.

And then after that, we've pretty much seen each other everyday since.

- [Voicemail] You were really fun to hang out with.

- She's 28 years old and she has a son named Jude, he is seven years old.

- [Voicemail] I can tell you had an awesome mom.

Francis Nicole, aww thank you that's really nice of you.

- She didn't care about me being blind, it was just a breath of fresh air from the usual conversations that I have with women.

(acoustic guitar music) - I've been very independent for a good chunk of my life and yes, I'm comfortable with myself and comfortable with my blindness.

I don't like to rely on other people 'cause sometimes I feel like they'll either let me down or I can do the job better.

I've built my life and I can rely myself and sometimes that's the easiest thing to do.

James and I, we hang out just as much as we did before.

(laughing) Well, maybe now a little more.

We've made that transition from friends to dating now.

One thing I'm really learning with James is that I can still be who I am and I don't have to give up my independence.

I'm not sure what I except and he doesn't push it.

(light music) - Let me know if I'm going to fast for you.

- That's a good pace right here.

Yeah, it's kinda crazy, this is the first time I've ever done the shopping thing by myself.

Usually when I go grocery shopping I get friends or family to take me, but this time I wanted to go shopping on my own just so that I could prove to Francis that she won't always have to help me with everything.

I'm making a dinner for her tonight and that's what I'm shopping for.

- Oooo, what are we making?

- We're making baked potatoes, shrimp, and crab legs.

- Oooo!

- [Solomon] Francis will definitely be impressed.

- Well, do you want to check out the four pack?

- Okay.

- [Shopping Assistant] The single baked potatoes are actually a little bit bigger.

- There you go.

Baked potato, shrimp, and crab legs, it's her favorite food so she's gonna be like "Oh cool, he listens," so that's cool, brownie points there.

What's that saying, a way to a man's heart, oh no, that's for a man.

- It works perfectly fine for a woman.

If you learn how to cook you'll win a woman's heart.

- I'm giving it a shot.

- I got you brother.

(piano music) - [Announcer] Here's what gonna happen, you're gonna have about three minutes to chat with the person in front of you.

Tonight the ladies are gonna be rotating and the gentlemen remain seated.

Have fun.

On your marks, get set, go.

(bell ringing) - Hi I'm Simon what's your name?

- Maggie.

- Maggie?

- I'm Freddie.

- Freddie.

- I'm Kristen.

- Kristen.

- Shana, I'm Simon.

- Hi Simon.

- Hi.

- Hi.

- [Simon] Hi.

I picked speed dating because your meeting a bunch of single people at once.

- My name is Netta.

- Netta?

- And everyone's looking for a date.

- What do you like to do for fun?

- Oh boy, a lot of things.

Snowboarding, snorkeling, swimming.

- Ah!

- Ice skating - You're an athlete.

I'm training for a triathlon.

- Oh no way, cool.

- What kind of music do you like?

- Latino music, like bachata, tipico.

- Ah, I listen to mostly heavy metal.

- Oh metal, okay.

- Like Metallica, Disturbed.

- Very good.

- The only Spanish singer I listen to is Selena.

- That would make a lot of Latinas very happy.

(ringing) - It was nice meeting you.

Seeing what you two have in common, what you don't.

What's your favorite type of food?

- Oh God, that's a question.

- More like burgers and stuff like that.

- Oh!

- I love Indian food, what about you?

- Ah, sushi would probably be it.

- Sushi.

- Yes, I love sushi.

- Oh you do, nice.

- There was a girl.

We seemed to both like sushi so that was a plus.

- Do you like the rolls or do you like the actual sushi with the rice and fish?

- Oh both, but I love sashimi.

- I'm in school right now studying to be a music teacher.

- Oh really?

- What about you, what do you do?

- I'm an actor studying musical theater.

- Ah, I'm music and your drama, nice.

(laughing) - Ah, there's a all you can eat sushi in Brooklyn.

- What's it called?

- E sushi, it's with the letter E and then the word sushi.

- Yoo, that sounds mad sketch.

- I know, it's Brooklyn so.

Ever dated a blind person before?

- No.

- No I have not.

- I have not.

- Wow, would you?

- Yeah, no, absolutely, I mean.

- I'm open to it, but I don't.

(laughing) - All right cool.

Yeah sure I don't see why not.

Ever dated a blind person before?

Oh never mind.

- Never what?

- That was our final round of speed dating this evening.

- It was nice meeting you.

- Nice meeting you too.

I will catch you later.

- [Announcer] Thank you very much, congratulations.

(cheering) - [Simon] I met a person that I like.

That I actually connect with.

- What was your last question 'cause I couldn't hear you?

- I was just asking for your number but then we're actually, I guess, suppose to match to someone, so... Do you want to give me your number just in case?

- Yeah, sure.

Umm... - Sure, let me just.

I asked her for her phone number and she gave it to me.

Here, do you just want to put in my phone?

- Yeah, sure.

- So, mission accomplished.

(upbeat music) - [Nick] How long before they're here?

- [Solomon] 20 minutes, that's what she texted me.

We're running late.

- All right, so potatoes are in.

And what else do we need?

- [Solomon] Do you not know how long to do that for?

- I don't know I'm gonna guess.

- Nick and I are having Francis and Nick's girlfriend over, Jamie, and we're gonna make them dinner.

Does Jamie like crab legs?

- Don't know.

- [Solomon] How is this your girlfriend and you don't know what she likes?

- [Nick] I don't have to lure women with food.

- I don't know what else you lure 'em with.

(laughing) - Once I lost my sight, I went to blind independent living skills classes where they teach you about cooking.

- [Nick] How do you know where the burner is?

- You burn your hands a lot.

(laughing) - [Nick] That looks risky.

- I mean, I wasn't even a great cook when I could see so, it wasn't a big difference once I went blind.

- [Nick] Wow, this is so primitive, I don't eat this stuff man.

- [Solomon] Good thing I'm not dating you then, huh?

(laughing) (upbeat music) - [Joni] Tonight is my dance showcase.

It's theme is the intergalactic gala so I got a cool dress with stars on it.

- I'm doing a two minute foxtrot with my instructor Travis.

(crowd chatter) (applauding and cheering) - I'm excited, I'm ready to get out there and show them what I got.

(laughing) (foxtrot music) - I love the foxtrot.

It's one of my favorite dances.

It's very happy, it's jazzy, it's high energy.

It's elegant.

(applauding and cheering) (foxtrot music) (applauding and cheering) - Yeah!

(applauding and cheering) (acoustic guitar music) - Come on in!

- How are you?

- [Solomon] Good, how are you doing?

I've been making dinner for you.

- This is called Shrimp Italiano.

- This is my favorite Solomon, thank you.

- [Solomon] You noticed, your welcome.

- Dig right in?

- Yeah, yeah.

- There's really no way to eat crab legs lady like.

- [Jamie] Yeah, keep the slurping to a minimum.

(laughing) - [Solomon] So, how do you think the food is?

- I really like it.

I'm very impressed with your skills.

- Thank you, first time I met Francis I talked to her for like a while before even knowing what she looked liked, but.

- [Nick] You made the cut France.

- I mean you made the cut with your personality I love that, it was awesome, that's why I kept talking, you know.

- Honored, wow.

- Yeah, you should feel special.

- I do.

- I've been single for seven years so, I definitely know it's hard to find a girl like Francis, she's awesome.

Everybody tells me how beautiful she is and I'm sitting there thinkin' like, "Why the hell is she with me?"

She doesn't see me as blind person.

She didn't care about it.

We talk about family, we talk about life and kind of a testament of who she is.

Babe, I made you extra chives over here, I know that's your favorite.

- [Nick] Oh, you guys are in babe zone.

- Shut up.

I'm excited to see the future.

(soothing music) (crowd chatter) - Thanks love.

What really helped me decide to give James a chance is his heart.

(crowd chatter) He's patient with me.

(laughing) He's actually helping me be okay with having people help me.

(samba music) One, two, three, five, six, seven - [James] Seven, eight, twelve.

- Sometimes you have to not have control of everything and allow him to have some of that control.

Five, six, seven.

But on my own terms.

- [Jude] Hi!

- How are you?

- Hey man.

I did this project initially to build my confidence and to get back into the dating game.

Are you gonna put extra ketchup on your burger?

- No.

- What about onions?

Francis and I are still going strong.

It's awesome, I've never had a feeling like this before and being sighted, it's hard enough to find that relationship.

Imagine trying do it when your blind.

- I love all-you-can-eat sushi, I haven't found anything in midtown.

- No, Manhattan sucks with all-you-can-eat sushi.

I have like a different outlook now.

I'm committed to finding a relationship.

If your not committed to actually putting yourself out there, it's not going to happen and I have confidence that it will happen soon.

- I've learned that much of my fear of my blindness being a barrier is just in my head.

Most people don't care.

This experience has pushed me to appreciate attraction from whatever type of sound it comes from.

(laughing)