After Battling Brain Cancer Dubliner Gets ‘Back On The Horse’ On New Dating Show with a Twist

Dating is a minefield at the best of times, but few have had to work on getting back into the dating arena as hard as Dublin lad James McGill. In 2020, the 35-year-old was diagnosed with brain cancer which upended his entire life. However, after literally fighting back from the brink, James has worked hard to get back to normality, including his dating life.

Many of us would take it slow, perhaps slowly tipping our toe back into such a whirlwind part of a single person's life. True to form though, James has never done it the easy way and dives back into the dating scene in a brand new dating reality show coming to our screens this March.

‘Date my Mate,’ which aired on Prime Video on the 1st of March is a unique and entertaining dating show in which singletons, including James, are helped on every step of the dating app process by their nearest and dearest. The result is a hilarious and even heart-warming insight into the singletons and their (sometimes!) helpful friends and family who advise the candidates as they browse potential dates, swipe, chat on the app and even view the date, right from the comfort of their own sofa.

So what made James use ‘Date my Mate’ as his ticket back to the dating scene? Speaking to the LadBible Ireland, James said he wanted to throw himself ‘in the deep end,’ adding ‘if I make a tin of myself that’s absolutely fine!’

After everything he went through, James’ bravery and resilience are an inspiration to us all. Speaking about his illness, he said ‘I dropped to 32 kilos, it was basically end game... doctors words, not mine.’ However, after a year in hospital followed by extensive rehab, he started to get his social life back but said ‘I hadn’t touched on dating, I was terrified about what it was going to look like.’

Nonetheless, on screen, we see a confident and charming James bravely navigating back into dating, backed by his two friends Megan and Caitriona. He describes his experience on the show ‘as a bit of craic,’ despite ‘having no filter at the best of times!’

James’ great sense of humour is evident throughout and he admits ‘If you don't laugh about it, you’re going to cry and I don't have time for that.’

The show is a very modern reality show that reflects modern dating in a wholesome and entertaining way. For James, the concept was an ‘extremely interesting idea.’ Despite describing dating as ‘the hardest thing for me to get back into’ after his battle with cancer he joked ‘why not do it in front of thousands of people!’