When you put your profile up on Tinder, you never quite know who will be looking at it.
In Channel 4’s new documentary Date My Mum – which continues the channel’s trend for attaching attention-grabbing titles to surprisingly tender shows – 12 year-old Jessica admits that she helps her mum Danielle decide which way to swipe.
“Me and my mum look at Tinder together sometimes, and I would say, ‘not for you’, or ‘he’s not good looking’, or ‘he is good looking’, or ‘he is for you’, stuff like that,” she says.
This is essentially the premise behind Date My Mum – kids helping their single parents find a partner.
It sounds daft at first, but it makes sense – the men that these mums are looking for could become family, so why not begin from a family-centric place?
The children not only write the dating profiles (“She likes to watch EastEnders”), but also rifle through the responses to pick a top three, interviewing them before the dates take place.
Of course, they don’t hold back. As Jessica first looks through the replies, she says: “My first impressions of the men were-” before blowing a huge raspberry.
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Meanwhile, Hampshire-based Katie has three boys – Jay, 21, Harry, 15, and Rocky, 5 – who suggest Adam Sandler and Keith Lemon as potential ‘types’ she could date. Slightly worrying.
Will the world’s harshest critics manage to find the dream partner for the person they most care about in the world?
Date My Mum is warm, funny, and touching – and if it proves a hit, we’d love to see a whole series.
Channel 4, 10pm
