A lonely widower who launched an appeal for a companion at his Christmas dinner table will now dine alone - having rejected a vegetarian’s offer of company.
Tony Williams, 75, insisted he would rather spend December 25 on his own than "have a lettuce for Christmas dinner".
After losing his wife to cancer this year, he launched his appeal, placing cards around the town where he lives promising a "sumptuous feast, fine wines and good conversation".
However, despite receiving offers from several women, Mr Williams has decided he would rather eat alone than suffer the task of preparing vegetarian food for his guest.
He says he would not eat "nut cutlet" and will cook himself a fillet steak from Waitrose instead.
Mr William’s wife Jo died of pancreatic cancer in May after the couple moved further south to Alton, Hampshire, where they would be closer to her sister.
He says the loss of his "soulmate", a retired legal secretary who was also 75, led to him fearing he’d have to spend the festive period alone.
But Mr Williams said he’s now choosing to after rejecting all the offers, including one woman he said bored him so much on the phone he decided her company "would make me more depressed than spending it alone".
He said: “I did try to reach out to see if there was someone else in the same situation as me who would provide some good company but I couldn’t find anyone.
“I had about five or six offers. Some were very tentative, some were dependent on if they had plans to go somewhere else, some were hedging their bets I think.
“One was a lady who was a vegetarian but I wasn’t interested. I didn’t fancy having a lettuce for Christmas dinner.”
Despite speaking to her for nearly an hour on the phone, Mr Williams said the whole idea of sharing Christmas with a vegetarian was ‘a non-starter’.
“I know a lot of vegetarians who enjoy their food,” he added, “but I don’t intend to eat a nut cutlet. It’s not really what I was looking for.
“Instead I’m going to treat myself to a nice steak and a superb bottle of wine.”
Is Mr William right to stay on his own? Let us know in the comments below.
