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LOVE IS IN THE AIR: Undateables stars Matthew Oghene and Jessica Morrod

A MAN dubbed the 'stammering hunk' from Channel 4's The Undateables, plans on tying the knot with the date he met on the hit TV show.

Matthew Oghene and Jessica Morrod met on the Channel 4 show, which follows adults with disabilities or learning difficulties on dates, and it was clear the attraction was as mutual as it was unusual.

Now, less than 18 months later, the couple are engaged and planning a wedding, The New Day reported.

Morrod, 37, said: “It’s amazing to think of the journey we’ve been on so far and what a wonderful life we have planned together. Inspiring other people to try something different and make confident choices is equally fantastic.”

Today Morrod is a confident and successful businesswoman: She runs a coaching company, with a PhD in physics.

But seven years ago she was seriously overweight and struggling with her failing health.

She says: “My hair was falling out, I was exhausted, I had digestion problems and I’d put on two stone in six months, taking me up to 19 stone.” Then she collapsed at work and was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid.

Then in September 2014 Morrod was leaving a gym near her London home when she was approached by two researchers from the hit TV show.

“They asked if I was single and asked me if I’d like to meet a man called Matthew who had a stammer,” she recalled.

Morrod agreed but what she didn’t know was that 32-year-old Oghene, who had already signed up to take part in the show, had drawn a picture of his ideal woman – with a
statuesque hourglass figure – and researchers had used that picture as they scoured the streets of London to try to find her for him.

Oghene’s stammer is something that has always plagued him, creating many challenges in his life.

“For as long as I can remember, people have made fun of how I talk,” he said. “That’s affected my confidence and how I express myself.”

He also recalls a difficult home life with feelings of “anger and hatred” in his relationship with his parents.

Inspired by his martial arts hero Bruce Lee, a 12-year-old Oghene realised that while he may not be able to control what came out of his mouth, he could control his body.

“I’d do endless sit-ups in my bedroom, then started weightlifting in the gym,” he recalled.

DREAM DATE: The sketch Oghene made of his perfect woman

His personal life may have been challenging, but Oghene was happy working as a ­popular life model for top ­artists and students.

Oghene, from Worthing, West Sussex, contacted Channel 4 himself about appearing on the show in the hope of meeting someone who could see beyond his stammer.

When Oghene met Jessica for the first time later that year, he thought she was “too good to be true”.

“There was a lovely child-like quality about Matthew,” Morrod said. “There was no pretence, and I thought he was a breath of fresh air.

“His fun approach to life was the perfect tonic to my studiousness.”

The couple met regularly after hitting it off on their first date and Morrod used the motivational coaching techniques she employs in her work to help Matthew’s stammer.

“Matthew knew what I was up to and I knew he wanted help, so he was a perfect client."

“Together we pinpointed that his stammer is rooted in his family and upbringing and I encouraged him to think about how he would feel if he chose not to stammer.”

The work they have done together since then has led to big improvements in the fitness enthusiast's stammer and in March last year he stood on stage and spoke to an audience of 800 people ­without stammering.

“I feel like a new person,” he said. “I would never have been able to have done that without Jessica.”