Davina McCall on dating in mid-life: ‘You are at a point in your life where you deserve to find love’

It’s set to be a heart-warming series, a refreshing take on the tried and tested reality genre, and the type of programme McCall has been dreaming of since she pitched an idea for a mid-life dating show to the ITV bigwigs. “It’s the baggage that we bring at our age, that is what makes it interesting,” says the 55-year-old presenter. “Does my baggage suit your baggage, or does my baggage clash with your baggage?”

Initially, McCall’s idea was turned down, but behind the scenes the team was working on bringing a format that worked in the US and Australia to UK audiences. She says she was delighted to be asked to host. “I just can’t believe that it’s happened, because I really did believe in it so much,” she says.

“It made so much sense, mid-life love, it is so important – there’s so many people that are second time arounders, that have lost someone, that maybe have gone through life unsuccessful time and time and time again, so scarred. We can all relate to that.”

McCall herself is no stranger to mid-life love, having fairly recently embarked on a new romantic journey with celebrity hairstylist Michael Douglas. But the stories told in My Mum, Your Dad are touching and emotional regardless of whether or not you have skin in the game.

“I just wanted to see mid-lifers represented in terms of dating, because of the ‘second time arounder’ thing that happens in the 40s and 50s, where you’ve got children, life is complicated, but more than ever, you feel that you are at a point in your life where you deserve to find love,” she says. “They deserve to find love, and spend the rest of their lives with somebody.”

In a nearby location dubbed ‘The Bunker’, the grown-up sons and daughters who nominated their parents for the series will be watching on, having the opportunity to play matchmaker and help decide their romantic fate. While McCall thinks there will be moments where the kids will be absolutely mortified, she’s keen to stress that “there are no cameras in the bedrooms … it’s different in that way”.

“For me, personally speaking, I’d rather watch the hint of love, a hint of something coming, ‘should I, shouldn’t I’, a moment of tenderness, something amazing. That’s so exciting,” McCall says. “But like, jumping into bed with each other … it doesn’t mean anything. This really means something, when you see people falling, and you think, oh my God, you know that this is serious. And that’s what’s so lovely.

“But yes, there are moments where the kids have got cushions in front of their faces. But it could be over something quite small and intimate, because they’ve never seen their parents in a date situation.”

The singletons heading into the retreat include those who’ve lost partners, are unlucky in love, struggling with self-esteem, or finding it hard to knock down the wall they’ve built around their heart.

McCall explains: “There’s a guy in there who is a widow(er) – his daughter nominated him for the show and the really touching thing is that just the act of his daughter dropping him off at the retreat, to go and potentially try and meet someone, is the sweetest thing, because you know how hard it must be for her to give permission to her dad to move on from her mum.

“There’s another one of the guys who I found interesting, because he was a confident guy, he was fun, but once he got into the retreat, he was so quiet. One lady’s daughter feels a bit responsible for her mum’s happiness. They are best friends, but she doesn’t really like the idea of leaving home while her mum’s alone. Then we have another guy who I needed to give a pep talk to. He was amazing in his chosen profession, but he really struggles with self-confidence.”

The daters on My Mum, Your Dad will be at their romantic retreat for a relatively short stint of two weeks. It’s reasonable to question whether you could possibly fall in love in a fortnight, but when you’re with someone 24/7, two weeks might as well be two years. “I thought it really was a lot to ask,” says McCall of seeing if people can fall in love in such a short space of time.

“And you’ll have to wait and see. But actually, I think there is a thing, when you’re with somebody 24/7, you’re older, you’ve got life experience, you kind of know when you know because you’ve gone through so many bad relationships, and it becomes quite obvious when something’s working, when something’s not working.

“There are amazing workshops that happen, you’ll see, as the days develop. These workshops are designed to help to get to know people on a much deeper level. And it works brilliantly. So in fact, when you think what on earth can happen in two weeks? It is unbelievable what does happen. You’ll be amazed.”

My Mum, Your Dad is on every weeknight for two weeks from Monday, September 11 at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

Davina McCall is set to be involved in a panel discussion titled When Will Women’s Health Be Taken Seriously? on September 27, as part of Leeds International Festival of Ideas.