Television stardom beckons for Preston 'part time witch' after he was a huge hit on new Channel 4 dating show First Impressions

Gideon Allen from the city centre applied for the dating show First Impressions on a whim, after being encouraged by friends.

But the cape-wearing, spell-book reading 23-year-old was such a hit on his first appearance that producers have asked him to return, and he's also being lined up for more reality TV work.

"My love life has been chaotic", said sales assistant Gideon.

"I need to find my Mark Darcy as I see myself as a male Bridget Jones.

"The problem is, I only ever seem to get Daniel Cleaver's, so I thought, why not let somebody else take control of it for me?"

Gideon said the idea to apply for a raft of dating shows seemed like a really good idea "after a few drinks", and was surprised at how quickly producers phoned him up.

He said: "Soon I was down in London, in the Premier Inn, everything paid for, living the life and having a great time."

The idea of First Impressions is to only meet someone when you sit down at a table with them, and give your first impression of how they live their lives.

Some of the questions were risque, but Gideon says he's an "open book" and doesn't mind being open, despite attracting some online trolls.

His date was with Erik, whose secret was that he is transsexual.

Gideon said: "It was so much fun, even though me and Erik didn't click, we had a great time.

"When Erik revealed his secret, I think they (the producers) thought I'd be shocked, but I wasn't. I always think anything's possible, it's not natural for me to judge."

He added: "I thought the more shocking thing was me revealing I'm a witch, but nobody has brought that up!"

Gideon regularly goes on ghost hunts with friends, uses a spell book, and owns a potion book.

He has also featured as a dancer in a James Morrison video, has been in a promotional video for Manchester, and has had cameo parts in a BBC series.

He said he was thrilled to be asked to return for the show's grand finale, to be aired on January 4.

He said: "When we were filming, everyone behind the scenes was laughing and some were being told to leave the room, because I was coming out with everything.

"I think what went out was the PG version.

"Because we'd had such a godo time, the producers asked me if I was free the next day to come back and film some more.

"Then there's just been a spiral effect because I think people in that industry all know one another, with emails coming in from all over, asking me to do this, do that."