IT turns out that I have more in common with Denise Van Outen, Barbara Windsor and Vanessa Feltz than just the blonde hair, English accent and deep love for Fake Bake.

IT turns out that I have more in common with Denise Van Outen, Barbara Windsor and Vanessa Feltz than just the blonde hair, English accent and deep love for Fake Bake.

Why? Well, after making my decision not to try so hard in my hunt for love, I got an e-mail via an internet dating site.

It was from "an S.H.O in A and E and I.C.U."

I was confused. "What on earth is that?" I thought.

But, thanks to Google I was pleased to discover my male e-mailer was a Senior House Officer (a doctor) in Accident and Emergency and Intensive Care.

And I didn't need a search engine to discover he looked H.O.T in his pictures.

But I was a little wary.

You might remember my last encounter with a member of the medical profession, the surgeon who, during our date, told me about his experiments on still-warm amputated limbs.

But this new doctor worked for the most part, thankfully, on body parts that were still attached. However, when I looked closer at his web profile I discovered something as scary as Frankenstein.

The latest doc is younger than me.

By a whole three years.

Did I want, like Denise, Babs and Vanessa, to have a toy boy, a toddler to pour me gin and tonics and a boy scout to shove me into a nursing home when I get too old?

What was also frightening was the fact he could already be a doctor at 24. Who is he, Dougie Howser MD? The guy from that 1980s television show who finished medical school at 14?

Still, I was intrigued by my Dougie'. So I drafted a reply.

And I'm glad I did, cos I discovered that while Dougie might lack years hes as funny as Frankie Howerd in Carry on Doctor (though hopefully without the limp wrist).

When I asked cheekily if he wore scrubs he answered: "Yes and my scrubs are described by the health board as burgundy'. Hides the stains. I drink a lot of Burgundy at work."

So when Dougie suggested meeting up for a real Burgundy I agreed.

But just so I didn't appear a total Mrs Robinson I swotted up on chart toppers, what was happening in Hollyoaks and when the next High School Musical movie comes out.

Yet, I was anxious. Would the age difference be noticeable? Would he be wearing a hoodie and have his hair gelled into spikes?

Thankfully, when we met at the Corinthian he looked rather cute, if a little preppy, in his pink shirt.

And while he'd been waiting for me I noticed that his choice of reading material didn't have Korky the Cat on the cover. Plus he'd even got me a cosmo.

Now I was impressed.

So we soon got to covering all the usual first date questions.

I asked him how long he'd been single.

"Two months," he said, with a sigh.

"I've spent longer in the queue in Primark!" I thought.

But I was pleased when Dougie revealed that, like me, football sends him to sleep faster than an anesthetic.

Instead he prefers "sports with boards".

"What like Monopoly? Scrabble? Snakes and Ladders?" I asked.

"No, surfing, wake boarding and windsurfing," he replied.

Phew. And during the date I didn't feel a bit like The Graduate star Anne Bancroft at all.

And he even texted me later, saying: "I really liked seeing you tonight."

"How sweet!" I thought.

But will that innocence always be so appealing? Or will his idea of a dinner date be a Happy Meal in a bedroom decorated with Hannah Montana posters with last week's socks scattered about the floor?

Maybe I'll join Denise and pals to find out...