Dating sites used on the undateables

Disability dating sites: we round up the best

It is now eight years ago that Disability Match started as a dating community for disabled singles in the UK. Of course, online dating was not new and there were already a couple of niche disabled dating sites, but these were mainly global sites with a huge bias towards the American disability community. What the UK needed was a disabled dating site that would be part of the local community and provide a secure and friendly environment where UK singles who had some form of disability — visible or hidden — could reach out and contact potential friends and lovers living within a reasonable distance. During the last decade a lot has happened in the UK for disabled daters. When the site launched it was obvious that disabled people were often avid internet users and that social media would play a huge role in developing the community.

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The Undateables is a British reality television series that follows a range of people on dates who have long term conditions, including: disabilities , developmental disorders , neurodevelopmental conditions, and learning difficulties. The series worked in conjunction with the dating agency, Flame Introductions, and was broadcast on Channel 4. Fifty-three main episodes aired since the documentary first aired on 3 April , split into 11 separate series. The documentary has been narrated by Sally Phillips throughout. Early controversy was generated from newspapers such as The Mirror and The Guardian , due to the word "undateable" being used in the title to describe people with mental and physical disabilities. Channel 4 claimed that the title of the series is based upon society's preconceptions of these people.

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Hayley Ostler, 29, runs a project where she plays Cupid to those who need a little help in the romance department…. Sitting on the edge of the sofa, I watched the young couple on TV. As they ate ice cream and made nervous small talk, I rooted for them. And when they later swapped numbers and kissed goodbye, I beamed with pride. As a matchmaker for people with learning disabilities, I regularly help would-be boyfriends and girlfriends, like Luke and Alice, find love. That episode showed me phoning Luke, a member of the dating project I run, to suggest a date with Alice, also a member.

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Dating For All

Regular contributor, Deborah Caulfield, tells us her opinion on The Undateables , a three-part series following a group of people with disabilities as they navigate the world of dating. The Undateables was neither documentary nor reality TV. It was a down-market gawp fest for those who could watch it feel better about their lives.

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