One thing about Date My Family? The show brings diversity across all demographics: from race to gender to sexuality, and now we can say age as well. This week we met Andrew, a personal trainer who is older than most people we’ve seen on the show, but he served as a reminder that love can be found at any age or life stage.
Andrew is from Soweto and he’s looking for somebody who can love him unequivocally. In his hunt for romance, he would go on to meet the families and friends of three single ladies: Mary, Boitumelo and Catherine. As always, each of these encounters was very interesting!
Age ain’t nothing but a number
Without wanting to be ageist, at 43 Andrew is the oldest bachelor many of us have ever seen on Date My Family – proving that there’s no such thing as the “right time” to do anything. This was one of the key messages from this week’s episode.
Many (both on the show and on Twitter!) expressed their surprise at Andrew’s age throughout the episode but our bachelor handled the questions well. The truth is, life is unpredictable and you should never judge anybody for their relationship status at any age. When he walked into the first family’s home they were shocked but still found a way to understand.
However, when Andrew visited Boitumelo’s family, it seemed as if one of her daughters did not believe that he would be a good fit for her mom because by 43 someone was meant to have figured his life out (even though at 39, her mother was also available).
“Boring” Andrew
One of the complaints that kept coming back about Andrew was that he was “boring” – or not exactly what some of the single ladies were looking for. For instance, Boitumelo was concerned that he wouldn’t be able to provide for her as a personal trainer and that they wouldn’t have enough to talk about
While one of Catherine’s friends was worried that Andrew would bore her friend if they were ever to date, she was curious to see how things would go.
Andrew did provide us with one key piece of entertainment when he was asked about where he’s from. The fitness enthusiast replied that he was “born and bred at Baragwanath hospital”. Please let our people speak vernac on this show!
A surprise choice
Despite some of the complaints, it seemed as if Andrew still had a good chance with two of the three ladies (ja, no, Boitumelo even told us that she wouldn’t be crushed if he didn’t come back). Despite what her friend had said, we were still certain that he was going to choose Catherine, just because there seemed to be the most interest there.
So when Catherine was greeted with nothing but a bottle of wine, shortly after Boitumelo, it meant that Mary was the lucky lady who would be walking away with Andrew.
We have to say we were surprised. And so was she! But on the date they went…
A cute first date
Andrew and Mary didn’t immediately look compatible but from the moment they started their date you could tell there was something there. Mary appeared to be a lot of fun, while Andrew had something about him that was endearing to most viewers. These two made us happy!
There were very few awkward moments in their date (and when they were, Mary laughed them away). In the end, they were both happy enough to settle for a second date and we are thrilled for them.
As you can see, there’s no right or wrong age to find love. Well done, Andrew and Mary!
Date My Family S9 is now streaming on DStv online . Season 1-7 are available to stream on Showmax.
