If the autumn nights are making you feel slightly more cold and alone, I might just have the perfect antidote for that chill.
ITV’s ‘My Mum, Your Dad’ is the dating show we middle-lifers have been waiting for and series two is streaming now. Presented by the ever glass-half-full duracell bunny that is Davina McCall; it’s a joyful celebration of love in so many forms.
Forget Love Island with its bikini clad hotties; their baby faces ruined by the age of 25, with fillers-a-plenty, and the uber-laddish lads with their tattooed necks and muscles on top of muscles.
In their place are approximately 12 mid-life hopefuls, nominated by their children to enter this dating show of dreams in an attempt to find the thing that has so far eluded them; lasting love.
There are lots of reasons to adore this show… here are some of them.
It’s authentic - the contestants are likeable normal people who’ve applied alongside their children to be on the show. They haven’t been headhunted on social media as so often happens with other dating shows like Love Island. Reality TV so often feels scripted and fake. This one features real people, with real baggage and battle scars. Their insecurities are ones lots of us single parents relate to. There is a distinct lack of ego on display, just fragility and vulnerability. It genuinely feels like the participants are in there to find love, rather than to secure a marketing deal with Boohoo.
In a world of ageism this show shines mid-life people in a very flattering light. Gone are the tantrums and the petulance of the young ‘uns on that other show, these contestants are shown in all their wonderful three-dimensional vulnerability. It shows that people are not one thing, that we’re all more than a description or a stereotype, and that as we age we become more multifaceted and way, way more interesting.
I think the thing I love most about this very real reality show, is that it feels like the production is geared up to allow all the contestants to flourish. There are no set-ups with resulting humiliation, no strategy that results in hate watching, waiting for someone to get their come uppance. Sure, we will have our favourites, that’s human nature. But the viewers are rooting for each and every contestant.
The jewel in the crown of the show is Davina. I realise she can be a bit marmite; you know… you either love it or you hate it. Well I’m a Davina fan, and I doubt there’s anybody better who could’ve hosted it. Yes, she’s ridiculously shiny and bouncy and her body is unattainable for most 30 year olds never mind 50 year olds… but she’s unflinchingly kind and earnest and is so patently invested in helping the participants get their happy ever after. Shes also perfectly placed to speak from experience since she’s been through divorce and single parenting not to mention drug addiction and loss.
There are three other love stories in the show which are way more compelling than those between the couples, and these are what make the show so beautiful.
Firstly, there’s the fact that we get to watch these broken bruised individuals falling back in love with themselves. Seeing their value and their worth.
Secondly, even if we don’t get to see everyone fall in love, we get to watch them all fall in friendship! Again to draw the comparison to Love Island, while there the contestants are pitted against each other and ‘girl code’ is quite often cast aside; in ‘My Mum, Your Dad’ there is none of that toxicity or sabotage. They all have a keen awareness of what it’s taken to bring them here and so they act as each others’ cheerleaders, forming beautiful bonds.
Lastly, the greatest love story of them all in this show is undoubtedly the one between each parent and their child. Prepare to feel all the feels as you watch how proud they are of their parents, how grateful they are for what they’ve done for them and see them acknowledging that it’s now time for their parents to reclaim their own lives.
// Sarah Lawton
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