Natalie, Roger and Sharon on My Mum, Your Dad on ITV
TV

Jail five times, drug addiction and death of wife: The shocking and emotional back stories of the My Mum, Your Dad contestants

The new dating show begins tonight...

My Mum, Your Dad starts tonight on ITV as Davina McCall hosts the new dating show dubbed the ‘middle-aged Love Island‘.

The show will see nervous parents dropped off at the doors of a retreat by their kids. Yep, you read that right. Their children! Davina then tells them that they’ll be watching their parents’ every, single move (something many people might find totally cringe!).

The new dating show is expected to be a hit, and could rival the likes of Love Island. But who are the contestants taking part? Some of them have very emotional, and rather shocking, back stories.

Natalie and Kaliel on My Mum, Your Dad on ITV
Natalie has opened up about her past (Credit: ITV)

My Mum, Your Dad on ITV: Natalie and Kaliel

Natalie, 44, will appear on the reality show alongside her son Kaliel, 20. Natalie has opened up about her past, revealing she has been in jail five times.

Speaking on the Little Girls Aren’t Taught This podcast, according to MailOnline, Natalie said of her drug use: “Those people you see running around on the street looking to get their next fix, that was me.”

She also heartbreakingly said: “I had a lot of trauma as a child – there was sexual abuse in teenage years. A broken home, I ran away from home and I ended up abusing substances which led to prison and psychiatric hospital, suicide attempts – just utter chaos.”

Despite her past, Natalie seems determined to find love. She said: “I’ve been on my own for a long time. I think he thinks it’s my time for me now. Since my last relationship I’ve been building my business and focusing on my kids. But now, I think he’d like me to find love.”

Roger and Jess on My Mum, Your Dad on ITV
Roger lost his wife, Jess’ mum, 18 months ago (Credit: ITV)

Roger and Jess

Father and daughter Roger and Jess are also taking part in the reality show. 58-year-old postman Roger suffered tragedy when his wife died 18 months ago from cancer.

He said he didn’t want to meet anyone and is going on the show to “get some confidence”. Roger said: “Following my wife’s passing 18 months ago, I didn’t really want to meet anyone. You don’t expect it to be you and you don’t expect it to be your wife.”

Speaking about signing her dad up for the show, 28-year-old network rail planner Jess told ITV: “It was a joint thing with my brother and sister and it was our way of basically telling him that we were happy for him to start dating, if that was something he wanted to do.”

Elliott and Zachary on My Mum, Your Dad on ITV
Elliott and Zachary will feature on the show (Credit: ITV)

Elliott and Zachary

Not much has yet been revealed about Elliott and Zachary’s back stories. But the 53-year-old PE teacher/football coach and his 21-year-old uni student son have high hopes for the series.

Zachary emotionally said his dad “deserves a chance to be happy” and added to ITV: “He deserves the opportunity to find the ‘end stages’ of love.”

Meanwhile, Elliott said: “He wants rid of me! I think the prospect of me being in his life for too much longer was a burden. No, he just wants me to be happy.”

Janey and son Will on My Mum, Your Dad on ITV
Janey “lived alone” for most of Will’s life (Credit: ITV)

Janey and Will

Mother and son Janey, 47, and Will, 19, will also be taking part. Janey said she’s “lived alone” with Will for “all his life pretty much”. But he’s now left for uni.

Janey had Will just a year before separating from his father, who now lives in Edinburgh with his second family, the Mail reports.

She said: “He’s lost all hope for me, he thinks I’m undateable! He wants me to meet someone.”

Will added that he wants to find comfort and peace of mind from the experience.

Clayton and Christian on My Mum, Your Dad on ITV
Clayton and Christian will be taking part (Credit: ITV)

Clayton and Christian

Pastoral support officer Clayton, 57, has been nominated for the show by his son Christian, 35. Graphic artist/warehouse employee Christian told ITV of the experience: “I want him to live life with someone.”

Clayton added: “He felt it’s come to a point where I’ve taken a bit of a time out for a while, in searching for love or having a date.

“He’d like to see me settled with someone I could have a future with.”

Not much else has been revealed about their back stories yet.

Paul and Mazey on My Mum, Your Dad on ITV
Mazey is hoping her dad will find love (Credit: ITV)

Paul and Mazey

Paul, 47, will feature with his daughter Mazey, 21. Decorating company owner Paul said to ITV: “There’s nothing nicer than both being on the same page and looking into the future as if it’s going to go somewhere – planning on moving in together.

“I don’t think there’s anything nicer than that, really.”

Meanwhile, Mazey wants to see her dad settled. She said: “He’s gone for people who are at different life stages, a few years younger, they were just at completely different places and their lives weren’t matching up.”

We may have to wait a bit longer to discover more about Paul and Mazey’s back stories.

Karli and Caroline on My Mum, Your Dad
Karli and Caroline share a close bond it seems (Credit: ITV)

My Mum, Your Dad: Caroline and Karli

Mum and daughter duo Caroline and Karli will be taking part on My Mum, Your Dad. Caroline, 51, admitted she’s been single for a long time.

It seems tech advisor Caroline may have been with people who were unfaithful to her in the past.

She told ITV: “I’ve been single for such a long time, it’s probably the longest I’ve ever been single! I’ve always been quite happy being single but I think she thought, ‘Mum, you need to get out there!'”

Flight attendant Karli, 20, added: “She’s a bad judge of character. All the guys she’s been with before have been liars and cheats!”

Tia and Sharon on My Mum, Your Dad
Tia and Sharon are hopeful! (Credit: ITV)

Sharon and Tia

Sharon, who is a safeguarding and welfare officer in education, has high hopes that she’ll meet someone who understands her devotion to her two kids.

Meanwhile, social media influencer Tia told ITV: “My mum is normally the funny one, it would be nice for mum to be with someone that makes her laugh for a change.”

According to the MailOnline, Tia has supported her mum through the ups and downs of her love life – including experiences of domestic violence and infidelity.

Monique and daughter on My Mum, Your Dad on ITV
Monique with daughter Taiya (Credit: ITV)

Monique and Taiya

Finally, we have Monique and Taiya. Therapist Monique, 50, told ITV about doing the show: “I don’t like pastries, so we don’t do flakes!”

However, she also said: “I’m the eternal optimist when it comes to meeting somebody.”

Her daughter, 21-year-old student Taiya, added to ITV about her mum: “She’s put everything aside to raise me and my sister for so many years, so I thought now is my mum’s time.”

Read more: Davina McCall set record straight over relationship with boyfriend Michael Douglas

Not much else has been revealed about Monique and Taiya’s past, so we’ll have to wait to find out.

My Mum, Your Dad will air tonight (September 11) from 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX.

YouTube video player

Will you be watching? You can leave us a comment on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix and let us know.


Rebecca Carter
Associate Editor (News)