BEIJING (SCMP): A new Chinese dating reality show that features a group of single people aged about 50 has become a nationwide hit, sparking discussions about love and desire in the lives of the middle-aged and elderly.
The show by tech giant Tencent’s WeTV, Forever by Your Side, was first aired in December 2025 and was branded as “mature singles braving the world of love”.
It invites five men and five women around the age of 50 to travel together from Dali in southwestern China’s Yunnan province, a city known for romantic encounters, to Thailand and observes the chemistry between them.
Like other reality shows, the show also features “ordinary people”, although all the participants are middle-class with successful careers.
They include a former fashion director of a prestigious Shanghai media outlet, a former business director of an internet firm, an architect, a head of a university department and a company director from the United Kingdom.
The show specially marked their age in its promotional materials, but the spectators remarked that they all looked much younger than their age.
The show was an instant hit.
It reportedly had a viewership share of 4.8 per cent following its fourth episode and came third on a major short video platform’s variety show rankings.
Many viewers said they were attracted to the participants’ “brave and straightforward” attitudes towards love.
“It is such a dramatic show. Do people become more fearless when they reach 50?” one said.
Another said: “These middle-aged people seem more alive than other dating reality shows’ participants in their 20s. This show inspired me to think about what kind of person I want to become when I am 50.”
China began producing dating reality shows following the success of such shows in South Korea.
The first such show in China, Heart Signal, also produced by Tencent, was localised from the South Korean dating reality show of the same name in 2018.
It invites young people from all walks of life to live together in a house for a month. The show also invites celebrities and experts to observe and analyse the activities of those taking part.
While the show has released eight seasons so far, the genre has blossomed, exploring contemporary love life within different groups, from relationship virgins, full-time labourers and now the middle-aged group.
Forever by Your Side is also adapted from a 2024 South Korean dating reality show featuring a group of people around 50.
Psychological expert Zhang Yan, said that the popularity of dating reality shows reflects people’s longing for ideal intimate relationships.
Zhang said that such shows alleviate people’s anxiety towards imperfect romantic relationships in real life when spotting the same problems on screen.
According to the official statistics, China’s population of youth aged between 14 and 35 was about 400 million, making up 28.4 per cent of the total population in 2020. The proportion dropped by 6.38 per cent from 2010.
Meanwhile, people aged between 20 and 39 who live alone are also expected to increase from 18 million in 2010 to up to 70 million in 2030, according to a report by the Beike Research Institute.
On social media, young Chinese people expressed their desire for romantic relationships while also fearing marriage due to the financial pressure of buying property and raising children.
At the same time, the need for love among older age groups also drew increasing attention.
China recorded over 320 million people aged 60 and above by the end of 2025, making up 23 per cent of the total population.
According to the China Research Centre on Ageing, 14.2 per cent of people aged 60 and older lived alone in 2021. Only 45.5 per cent of them lived with spouses.
In recent years, more elderly people have been seen bravely chasing love. In Shanghai’s Ikea shop and People’s Square, there are special corners dedicated to elderly matchmaking.
Meanwhile, for elderly people, reality often beats love when they search for partners. They need to conquer many obstacles, such as recognition by their offspring and distribution of property.
The popularity of Forever by Your Side also revived some experienced viewers’ memories about the timeless genre of dating game shows, which were hugely popular in the 2010s.
The shows often featured ordinary people matchmaking on stage.
In recent years, footage from some shows that showed elderly matchmaking has gone viral on social media, with many complimenting elderly people, especially women’s hardcore attitude towards relationships.
Such women were brutally straightforward about the appearances of male guests and their impractical desire to look for young, beautiful women willing to look after them. Some young women saw them as life mentors. -- SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
