AN ANDOVER man has swapped running through warzones for an appearance on a dating show.

Jordan Wylie, from Andover, last month appeared on Channel 5’s Blind Date in a bid to find his perfect match with the help of Paul O’Grady.

The dad-of-one, who is currently on a mission to run marathons in three of the most perilous countries in the world, appeared on the show with his dog Lola.

“It was a charity special focussing on responsible pet ownership and I was single and was looking for love so I thought ‘why not?’, Jordan said.

The Kings Royals Hussars veteran had a pick of three women - Bex, Dawn and Chrystal - but he had to know more about the trio before making up his mind.

And in true Blind Date-style the three questions were cheesy to make the audience laugh.

“You wrote down your questions of what you wanted to ask and then they were tweaked.”

In one round, Jordan, who fought pirates off the coast of Africa, asked the women “how are you similar to a pirate?” and in another wanted to know how they were similar to their pets.

And after hearing their answers, Jordan picked Chrystal from Oxfordshire who was accompanied by her Staffordshire bull terrier Aslan.

“My mind was totally blank when I was asked which one I was going to pick and why and all I remember was that one said she had jumped out of a plane at 13,000 feet and that was the one thing that stuck out to me,” the 34-year-old said.

And as the screen went back, Chrystal was happy with her match, saying he was “very lovely, dressed lovely and very well turned out”.

However, things did not go to plan when it came to picking the date as Paul told the pair they would be going alpaca walking.

Jordan added: “They had filmed three shows that day and one had got Cuba for their date and the other Cancun and I thought this will be great, going somewhere in luxury and then we got alpaca walking.

“But it is lucky as when you realise this isn’t the person you are going to be with, it is lucky you are only spending one day with them.”

Despite getting remarks from his friends about appearing on the programme, Jordan has dubbed it a “fascinating and worthwhile experience”.

“Paul O’Grady was brilliant and such a down-to-earth guy he said to me I could talk about my book and my charity work but he led me into some of that during the opening section.”

And since the show Jordan has had an influx of messages from women, but he is now off the market as he has a girlfriend called Becky.

Viewers will not get to see Jordan’s date with Chrystal until December 29 when the series resumes.