Davina McCall, 55, has said she’d “rather be celibate” for the rest of her life than join celebrity dating app Raya.
The TV presenter is gearing up to host new dating show Your Mum, My Dad, for middle aged men and women, but admitted that it would be “too embarrassing” to sign up for the service.
“I’d rather be celibate for the rest of my life! It would be too embarrassing,” she told Radio Times. “At our age, it’s up to your mates to sort you out.
“I match-made a couple of friends – I reckon they’re going to get married. But men don’t stay single for very long.”
Addressing the differences in dating now compared to when she was younger, she said: “When you’re trying to get 20-year-olds to date, it’s easy because, at 20, you’re just thinking, ‘Do I fancy you? Yeah. Brilliant!’
“With a dating show for people in midlife… it’s not just about a sexual connection, although the immediate spark has to be there. You need to go, ‘I fancy them a bit,’ but getting to know somebody is a lot more important.
“Everyone our age comes with baggage. But that’s what makes people interesting and sometimes it’s what hooks you in.”
Fortunately, the mother-of-two doesn’t need to explore dating apps because she is currently in a happy relationship with hairdresser Michael Douglas, 48. The couple started dating in 2019 and moved in together last December.
The pair go way back as Douglas was her hairstylist when she hosted Big Brother in the early 2000s.
McCall, who confirmed the end of her 17-year marriage to ex-husband Matthew Robertson in 2017, added to the publication: “I think people know I’ve got divorced, I have a new partner, and we’ve all got kids.
“I have an understanding of what that’s like and, hopefully, they know from my Streetmate days that if I can help anybody fall in love, I’m on it!”
“If you’re dating in your 50s, you know much better what your shortcomings are, and would have learned from mistakes you have made in previous relationships," she continued.
“You will know the people who suit you, and the people who will bring out the worst in you.
“There’s so many pluses to trying to find somebody in midlife because of your self-awareness.”
Your Mum, My Dad, centres around single parents who have been selected by their adult children for a unique opportunity to find love.
Isolated in a rural estate, the participants are unaware that their children are secretly observing them from a nearby hideout, ready to intervene as matchmakers if they see fit. The show is being dubbed a “mid-life Love Island”.
