Hillie Marshall has played cupid for more than 20 years, helping tens of thousands of people find love. Joanna Kilvington speaks to west London’s answer to Cilla Black

Winter can be a hard time when you are single – no one to snuggle with in front of a roaring fire, or to share long walks in the country on crisp mornings.

And with figures from the Office of National Statistics revealing more people in London are now single, widowed or divorced, rather than coupled up, it can be hard to keep faith that Mr or Mrs Right is just around the corner.

However, all is not lost thanks to Chiswick’s very own Cilla Black, whose dating agency Dinner Date celebrated its 20th anniversary this year.

Over the past two decades Hillie Marshall, of Chiswick Mall, has given more than 80,000 singletons looking for companionship a helping hand.

Ms Marshall first came up with the concept in 1989 after her own divorce, and has since hosted more than 25,000 events, and helped to set up more than 150 weddings.

She said: “My friends thought I was completely mad.

“Never in a month of Sundays did I think I would be doing this as a career.

“I didn’t like the idea of people meeting one-to-one at all. We find ways for people to meet in more natural circumstances, the way people always meet each other when you’re young – at parties, meals or clubs.

“Our events have always been in very splendid places, where people have the chance to dress up.”

Over the past 20 years Dinner Dates has held matchmaking meals at swanky venues including the Ritz, the Dorchester, Royal Ascot and the Royal Regatta.

Other activities have included golf, tennis and pigeon shooting excursions, trips to art galleries, museums and the theatre and holidays to China, Cologne and Portugal.

However, matchmaking was not the first vocation for the 63-year-old.

She began her working career as an opera singer and actress, performing in BBC productions, at the Royal Opera House and in the Royal Variety Show.

She is also a trained radiographer, after her father demanded she found a “proper” career she could fall back on if her life on the stage didn’t work out.

The success of Dinner Dates saw Ms Marshall become a popular global agony aunt on the internet, and led to the publication of three self-help books – Hillie Marshall’s Guide to Successful Relationships, Agonise with Hillie and the Good Dating Guide.

Fans include Barbara Windsor who, commenting on Ms Marshall, said “Hillie’s lived a lot, loved a lot and throughout her life been the shoulder for many to cry on”, while funny man Frank Skinner called her first book “indispensable”.

Ms Marshall said: “If somebody asks I say I’m QBE – qualified by experience.

“I feel if you have gone through the mill yourself you can empathise with people’s problems.”

However, she admits her two grown-up children, Nicola and Jamie, have never come to her for relationship advice.

The company has even helped Hillie to find new love herself, after she met her second husband Angus in 1996 while at a golfing event organised by the company.

She said: “There he was practicing his swing when he looked up and saw this bossy blonde at the driving range.

“He came over, introduced himself and got the birdie.”

She said another highlight which brought home the importance of Dinner Dates came after a visit from a past member who had separated from the partner he met through the organisation.

Ms Marshall said: “He showed me a picture of his daughter and said ‘without you she would never have been born’. I just thought ‘my goodness’.”

But for all the successes, Ms Marshall explained there have been a number of disasters, including sitting a couple together at a Dinner Date event who seemed “perfect on paper”, only to discover they had just recently divorced.

Now after 20 years of playing cupid, Ms Marshall has decided it is time to let someone else fill the role and said she would be willing to sell the company to the right buyer, as long as they had the right “pizzazz”.

When asked about the changes she has seen over the years, she said: “When I first started there was a stigma attached – people didn’t want anyone to know what they were up to.

“Lots of people meet through us one way or another.

“They meet new friends at the events, and then meet their friends.

“People have much higher expectations now.

“They’ve become very ageist. The women all want toy boys and the men dolly birds.”

To find out more or to become a member visit dinner dates.com.

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