A man who appeared on First Dates has left viewers heartbroken after he revealing that many people have struggled to accept his autism - including his own mother.
Ketan appeared on the dating show looking for love, admitting that autism has 'totally killed' his love life.
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"On a date, I wouldn't go out of my way to tell them I was autistic," he explained.
"When I got the diagnosis I went home, I told my mum. My mum's one of these people that never shuts up, she's always talking about random crap. And for the first time, she just walked off, she literally walked out of the room.
"And I just thought... my mum, she has to love me - no matter what happens, she has to love me. And I've had this reaction that I've not had my entire life... I can't tell people this."
But on his date with Brodie, Ketan felt comfortable to slowly introduce the topic after they started talking about mental health.
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Ketan explained that he is autistic, adding: "I just thought, no one wants to date anyone who's autistic, so I thought I'd come here and try my luck."
But Brodie simply replied: "No judgement here."
Fans of the show were instantly won over by Ketan's bravery, and his heartbreaking past.
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One person posted: "So emotional watching #firstdates seeing Keton with his worries that no one will date him as he's autistic makes me sad. Having a family member that is autistic I really hope that watching this makes people less judgemental."
"The autistic guy on #FirstDates is breaking my heart and making me so happy at the same time. Go get your girl!" another wrote.
"Ketan is the gift that keeps on giving," someone else said.
"Heart melting with #firstdates the gent on the Autistic spectrum feeling able to share his truth," another tweeted.
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One person even offered up a marriage proposal, tweeting: "Ketan may I marry you please?"
During the date conversation seemed to flow and the jokes were flying - with Ketan explaining his love for one-liners stemmed from some pretty solid dating logic: "If it's a good joke, you've got her laughing at the joke. If it's a shit joke, she's laughing at you - so jokes can't go wrong."
But sadly it wasn't a match for Ketan and Brodie, both saying that they didn't feel that all-important spark.
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"When someone's been alive for 32 years and they've not heard a single joke that they can repeat, you've got to be a little bit..." Ketan said, tailing off, before admitting that he did think she was out of his league when she first walked in the room.
"And you took the autism bullet really well," he added.
"It wasn't really a bullet," Brodie smiled.
Fingers crossed Ketan and Brodie both find their matches soon.
Featured Image Credit: Channel 4Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film, Dating, first dates, Autism