Desi Me Dating, everyone’s favourite new-age desi dating show, came back with a bang in September for their second season. I had the pleasure of reviewing the show for 5XPress, and have been watching along since the first season came out. The last few episodes showed some familiar faces going on their second set of blind dates in this series. 

But, guess who’s got the tea on what actually happened next?

If you read my review, you may have noticed a small teaser that love was on the horizon this season. I am happy to publicly announce that the amazing blind daters from Episode 1, Kiran and Ankush, are officially together!

In an exclusive interview with the sweethearts of episode one, Kiran and Ankush sat down with 5XPress to talk about all things Desi Me Dating, and their budding romance.

First, a quick recap, Kiran is a 27 year-old paralegal on Wall Street. She is Guyanese-Punjabi, and was born and raised in New York. One of her friends had seen the first season of the show and thought that Kiran would be a perfect fit (and clearly, they weren’t wrong). 

As we saw on the show, Kiran went on to the show with absolutely no expectations.  

Ankush is a 28 year-old accountant, who also works on Wall Street! He’s a Punjabi Jersey boy and stumbled upon Desi Me Dating on his TikTok ‘For You” page. At the time, he was taking a break from dating, but he couldn’t say no to something fun like this. So naturally, he got the squad together like a counsel out of Game of Thrones, and they all collectively put together his application, right down to picking pictures.

Before filming, both Kiran and Ankush knew they would go on two blind dates as part of the show, but neither expected to find a match so quickly. On the day of the date, Kiran and Ankush were kept completely apart before filming started. 

For the first time on Desi Me Dating, instead of jumping into a date with a person you’ve never met before, the pair entered a Love is Blind style chat, where they had a conversation while physically separated by a sheet. The set was silent until their date started so as not to give away any of their personalities. 

I don’t know about you, but when I watched that first episode, I definitely saw sparks fly. Throughout the episode I couldn’t help but smile at the reactions both Kiran and Ankush were giving to each other. That energy definitely continued when I had a chat with them. Kiran and Ankush both sat side by side on the couch, looking adorable as ever. 

I asked Kiran when she realized there may have been some hope for romance with Ankush. 

“I think you could actually see it on my face,” she said. “It was this epiphany moment when he was talking about being the fat kid in school and being picked on. My jaw dropped. I was picked on too, so I just got it”. 

Ankush added there was a sense of understanding between them.

“When you talk about stuff like that you usually have to explain,” Ankush added. “But with her I was like I don’t need to explain it. You get it already. It was so surreal!”  

It was an instant connection, but moreover, Ankush said it was about what they didn’t have to say. “We got the details without even talking about them.”

Throughout the episode you could see those moments of understanding come to life. For me, the moment that stood out most was both of them realizing that they had been raised in female-led households and had close relationships to their grandparents. 

There was an unspoken bond I could feel being created in that moment and it was so beautiful to watch.

After the date, they exchanged numbers, which started a friendship between the two—as we know, pyaar dosti hai (Love is friendship). As we saw later in the series, both Kiran and Ankush went on another blind date with someone new. Kiran made rotis with Pranav, and Ankush did the same with Mona. 

In a funny turn of events, they actually ended up filming the episodes back to back, so a few days after their first date, Kiran and Ankush ran into each other again. Kiran could hear Ankush’s boisterous voice in the studio and quickly texted him to see if he was there. When she found out he was, their texts later turned into a four-hour phone call.

The very next day they were already on their first IRL date, grabbing a bite to eat and finishing it off in PopShift style with going to film Hot Takes, another original series. Everyone in the room thought that they had known each other forever. 

From that day onwards, the couple has been inseparable—living and working only a few blocks away from each other. 

“I’m just very excited and optimistic about the future, especially with this one beside me,” said Ankush, with a cheeky smile as he pointed to Kiran. 

Could they be any cuter?

I loved seeing this couple’s meet-cute play out on the show and really hope we’ll be able to witness some more love come to light in the future of Desi Me Dating. Season two episodes are still dropping every Tuesday, so be sure to keep an eye out for more new dates coming your way.