Put the shudder syrup to one side, these late life love bugs are brave enough to gamble on romance again… JAN MOIR watches ‘the middle aged Love Island’ My Mum, Your Dad

Tissues at the ready, because My Mum, Your Dad (ITV1) touches the heartstrings in a way that few other dating shows could achieve.

Billed as the Love Island of middle age, it hits hard because the late life bugs taking part are not only older, but also more vulnerable, having been bitten once and potentially three times shy.

Bruised or bruised, grieving or simply relieved, now they are brought together for our pleasure in a grand country house called The Retreat.

In ten shows airing over the next two weeks, will they be brave enough to take a chance on love again, even if love has let them down so badly in the past?

The new show features potential daters in their 40s and 50s; single parents nominated by their adult children for a second chance at love.

As if this wasn’t already potentially enough triple venti cringe, with an extra shot of shiver syrup on the side, an added twist is that, unbeknownst to the parents, the children are watching their every move in The Retreat from a nearby location called The Bunker. .

“Sit down, Dad, it’s only day one,” said an alarmed Christian, as he watched his father Clayton go on a weird booze picnic with a glamorous one named Natalie.

“I want to be the first to bite you,” Clayton joked to Natalie as he brushed an ant (imaginary?) off her shoulder.

Then Jess was shocked by her father Roger’s attempts to have a witty conversation with his date, Caroline. “He’s on a date and he’s talking about my dog,” she whined.

Roger went on to tell Caroline that he loved the dog so much that he brushed his teeth with his own toothbrush. “Oh, daddy,” Jess cried with her head in her hands.

Host Davina McCall hops between The Retreat and The Bunker in high heels and white lace shorts, doling out orders, empathy and comforting hugs when necessary. ‘Is Davina off the table?’ one of the handsome dads asked at the beginning of the program. Hilarious, but a potential red flag? We’ll find out soon enough.

My Mum, Your Dad is one of ITV’s biggest shows this autumn, a mature and fully matured rival to the ever-popular Love Island franchise.

Look, I want to be honest. I’ve never been able to sit through a single episode of Love Island. Not once. Never.

Although loved by five million regular viewers, for me the participants are too young, too self-centered, sometimes too stupid, often too vain to arouse much interest.

As they date and party in their Spanish villa, it’s hard to care whether they find eternal love or a fly in their gazpacho. All those pale yellow bodies and grumpy big lips, swollen from injections; everything was clean, including the original thought.

Unlike the Islanders, the Retreaters have all lived lives, had children, been injured, made important decisions and had to think of others instead of themselves.

It’s just too much. And the women are just as bad. Yet this one is different. A full-fledged dating show with midlife crisis moms and dads?

Unlike the Islanders, the Retreaters have all lived lives, had children, been injured, made important decisions and had to think of others instead of themselves.

And something like this has never been done before on regular TV. First Dates – Channel 4’s popular dating show – consists of just food and coffee; Married At First Sight UK, also Channel 4, is an abomination; while the niche variants on streaming platforms such as Netflix tend to be limited to the under 30 age group.

Even Blind Date never bothered with the 40-60 age group: the sense was always that they were too damaged and even too desperate to be entertaining.

In fact, I’m already dreading some of the fragile parts of My Mum, Your Dad.

“My heart’s greatest desire is to connect with someone with whom I can live life and have fun,” one mother said early on. A rather ominous depth charge that would implode in the shallows of a reality show, don’t you think?

I was also concerned about how intense Monique was and the probing interrogation technique she used on Paul during their first date under a canopy of wisteria. ‘What are the things you wouldn’t accept in your partner?’ she wondered, not too casually.

“I don’t know, good question, I’m not sure,” he screamed, with the terrified look of a man who expected a pair of thumbscrews to be pulled out of a handbag at any moment.

What did she think of the date afterwards? ‘It didn’t feel quite right. I don’t think he was very interested,” she said sadly.

Perhaps the biggest surprise were the scenes with the children in The Bunker, which have been the emotional heart of the show thus far.

The love and concern that these young people showered on their parents is truly moving, while the emotional intelligence they displayed as they talked about their parents’ complicated situations earned them much credit

The love and concern that these young people showered on their parents is truly moving, while the emotional intelligence they displayed as they talked about their parents’ complicated situations was a credit to them.

The first episode ended with Roger in tears, sitting alone in the aftermath of the first date he’d had since his wife died a year ago. A year ago! Across the country, millions of viewers put down their glasses of Monday night wine and shouted, “Roger, it’s too early!” Give yourself time to grieve, man.”

Roger told Caroline how his wife’s cancer had taken her away so quickly. “She didn’t know at the time that it had gone to her brain,” he said, revealing that he also blamed himself for not seeking medical help sooner.

“You couldn’t have known,” soothed Caroline, who had expertly gathered all this information from him. She assured him that he had done all he could; which of course he had.

Besides, he had loved her to the end and he was loved in return – and that’s all anyone could ever ask for. In The Bunker, Jess tried her best not to cry. Here also.

My Mum, Your Dad, 9pm, ITV1 and ITVX on consecutive weeknights for two weeks