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USA Insider 9-1-1

'9-1-1' Recreated A Woman's Embarrassing Real-Life First Date Mishap After A Toilet Didn't Flush

The Season 3 episode of "9-1-1" titled "Fools" details a real-life story of a date that goes horribly awry.

By Tyler McCarthy
Firefighter climbing the fire truck ladder to get inside an apartment

The team on “9-1-1” responds to a lot of odd calls based on real-life events, but the story of the “worst first date” on the Season 3 episode “Fools” may take the cake. 

During a poker game with Maddie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Chimney (Kenneth Choi), Buck (Oliver Stark) and Josh (Bryan Safi) bond over being painfully single in a city that’s forced people like them to suffer the perils of online dating. 

Later, the 118 gets a call about two singles who found each other on a dating app. On their first date, Tessa and Gary retire back to his place where the episode picks up with them making out on his couch. However, when she starts to experience some gastrointestinal distress, she politely excuses herself to the bathroom where things get… weird. 

Although it’s not ideal for a first date, she relieves herself in his toilet — it's a No. 2. When she flushes, the worst happens. The toilet clogs and starts to overflow. Thinking quickly (albeit not very wisely) she grabs a nearby hand towel, wraps up the offending package from the toilet bowl, and tosses it out the window. In yet another stroke of bad luck, the item lands on the outside windowsill, forcing her to stick her entire torso out the small gap on top to retrieve it. 

Not only does she fail to reach it, but she gets herself stuck and needs Gary to call 911. 

“I’m not sure where to start...” he tells the dispatcher

It turns out the embarrassing series of mishaps is a pretty faithful recreation of something that actually happened to a man in Bristol, England, in 2017. Liam Smith detailed the experience on a crowdfunding page asking for donations to repair the window that firefighters had to destroy to free his date, a slightly overconfident amateur gymnast who wished to remain anonymous for obvious reasons. 

After the story caught the public’s attention, he had no issue exceeding his fundraising goal. However, it ended up being a moot point as he also received offers from contractors to fix the window for free. As a result, he wrote that 100 percent of the profits would be split between two appropriate charities. 

The first helps build flushable toilets in parts of the world where they don’t currently have access. The second offers mental health and other wellness support to firefighters, according to "BBC News." 

Although it wasn’t exactly an ideal first date, Smith and the woman took the situation in good humor and even agreed to go out again. The same thing happened on “9-1-1” as the 118 got to watch as the two lovebirds looked past the incident and agreed to keep the date going. 

Sadly, not every date that night had a happy ending. After meeting someone online, Josh goes on a first date and really hits it off with him. However, when his date suggests they find a place to be alone, a third man appears out of nowhere. It turns out Josh’s new guy was a scammer with a violent accomplice. The two crooks beat Josh and rob him of his wallet and keys. At the hospital, he’s too embarrassed to admit what really happened and simply tells everyone, except Maddie, that he didn’t get a good look at his attackers. 

Although he's humiliated, Josh lives to love another day. Despite all the trials and tribulations associated with finding love, he knows it will be worth it once he finds someone willing to excuse his many mishaps, no matter how unflattering or embarrassing they may be. 

Rerun episodes of "9-1-1" air every Thursday on USA Network starting at 7/6c.

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