THEY have all been struck by Southampton’s very own Cupid’s bow.

The Frog and Frigate pub is famous for its boozy nights, dancing on tables and spit and sawdust feel.

But it is also a spot where many couples first fell for each other.

Now a team of them have taken a trip down memory lane and returned to the watering hole where their love stories began.

Daily Echo:

For many it was the first time in 20 years they had gone back and many came with their children – showing them where their mummy and daddy first met.

Landlady Lorraine Gardener and her husband Derek are even part of the story, having met at the pub before running it, and they have been married for 19 years.

Most of the couples dubbed the owners as their special Cupid, reminiscing about the nights when they danced along to the Frog’s famous acoustic sessions.

Lorraine said: “I think it is a special place. You can get talking to people in a safe environment and they can be themselves and let go of their inhibitions a bit, especially when it comes to dancing on tables, where they hold on to each other.”

Meet the Couples

WENDY AND PETER DAY The couple met at the pub in 1994 and have been married for 13 years, living in New Milton with their two teenage children.

Peter said: “This was always a really friendly place and it felt like family. We haven’t been back for a very long time but it’s all exactly the same as I remember it – this place is a huge part of our history.”

TRACY AND ANGUS COOPER Tracy Cooper may now be happily married to her husband Angus and have two young children together – but in 1996 after partying with friends at the Frog she struggled to remember meeting her soulmate.

The 41-year-old said: “It’s a bit embarrassing really but when he came up and spoke to me I really struggled to remember him. We had been dancing in the pub to Derek singing Sit Down and he always had these specific actions so of course I went to sit down but Angus thought I had fallen or was about to get trampled on because it was always so busy so came to rescue me. We met the next day and he had to jog my memory but we’ve been happy ever since and it’s all because of the Frog.”

JULIE AND LEE GOODMAN Julie Goodman, 39, loved the Frog so much that on her wedding day to Lee, 49, she and her dad John had to make a quick stop and pose under the sign.

She said: “We started coming here as a couple in 1994 and absolutely loved it so on my way to get married I knew what I wanted to do.

The Frog is legendary to all the people that came here and it was a big part of our lives as a couple.”

ANN-MARIE AND LUKE KNIGHT Ann-Marie was actually waiting for her date at the Frog when Luke Knight showed up.

The pair have been married for six years now and have an 11- year-old son, Luke.

Anne-Marie said: “It’s funny how things work out. We wouldn’t be together if it weren’t for the Frog. It still feels the same here, and the thing that makes it so special is just how accepting and welcoming it is. You can come as you are and just have fun, which is probably why so many couples have found each other here because you can just be yourself.”

DAN AND NIKKI WADHAM Dan Wadham, 36, and his wife Nikki Powell, 34, are actually former Frog staff who knew they wanted to be together almost immediately after meeting.

Nikki was a barmaid and Dan was door staff and he said that as soon as he saw her he wanted to ask her out.

Nikki said: “A lot of the people that worked here just did it because they loved it and it was a second job. I’m actually a lawyer and Dan is a maintenance technician but it was great fun working here and we loved it.

“We’re a bit of a cliché I suppose but it’s just a great atmosphere in here.

Everyone is family and gets on. I owe this place a lot for bringing me my husband.”

JAMIE AND KIRSTEN TRESIDDER: It was a spicy meeting for Kirsten and and Jamie in 1997.

Jamie, now 39, was going for a fancy dress night at the Frog with a group of his friends as the Spice Girls and Kirsten, 44, who was dressed as a cowgirl, can remember telling her friends that she fancied Baby Spice.

Jamie said: “It was just a laugh really. Who would have thought that would be the night I met my future wife, it’s mad. We came here together a lot after that and then got married in 2006.

“Walking back in here is a bit weird because you don’t realise how much time has passed but it’s amazing to have the chance to come back and reminisce.