Davina McCall announced as host for 'middle-aged Love Island': 'I manifested it'
Davina McCall has revealed that she will be the host of a new ITV dating show dubbed the “middle-aged Love Island”.
Called The Romance Retreat, McCall, 55, said that it will be a dating show for single parents.
“I manifested and I made it happen. I willed there to be an amazing new dating programme for grown-ups, people who have lived a life, who have been through experiences, bad, moving, they've had tough lives,” she said in a video posted to Instagram.
“They've got luggage but they deserve love and it's happening. It's coming to ITV soon.”
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In a caption accompanying the post, McCall wrote: “This is a show for single parents who have lived a life, have stories to tell about their dating pasts and deserve another chance at love and I’m gonna help you.”
The television personality specified that the show will take place in a “romantic countryside location” and that they are still casting for the new series.
“If you want my help finding love and you have a child who is over 18, what are you waiting for??? (Particularly you eligible men .. where are you?!),” she added.
The series was initially announced by ITV in January but a host hasn’t been confirmed until now.
Applications close on March 31, and adult children can nominate their single parents to go on the show too.
The show has been referred to as a “middle-aged Love Island”, referencing the popular ITV dating show that sees twenty-somethings escape to Mallorca for the summer to vie for love – and a £50,000 cash prize.
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While it is not yet known whether The Romance Retreat will include a cash prize, the premise will be similar in that it will be a group of singletons looking for love.
Latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found that there were 113,505 divorces granted in England in 2021, a 9.6% increase from 2020.
Among opposite sex couples, women were more likely to file for divorce than men, with most women citing “unreasonable behaviour” as the reason.
It noted that in 1965, one in ten couples who married that year were divorced by their 10th wedding anniversary, a number which increased to one in four couples from 1995.
However, divorce in the first 10 years of marriage has slightly decreased, with just one in five couples who got married in 2011 being divorced by 2021. The data also showed that four in ten adults in England and Wales have never been married or in a civil partnership.
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A further study from YouGov found that one in nine 40 to 44-year-olds met their partners on a dating website, while just 7% met their significant other on an app.
A further one in five people aged between 50 and 64 met their partner by chance while out and about.
In fact, 69% of 35 to 44-year olds met their partner offline compared to online, and this rose to 74% for 45 to 54-year-olds.
According to a separate YouGov poll, most adults meet their partners through work or through mutual friends.
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