New dating app feature allows family members to tell your date 'lovely things about you'
Featured Image Credit: Badoo
Topics: Sex and Relationships, Gogglebox, TV And Film, Celebrity, Instagram, Social media
Poppy Bilderbeck
Gogglebox's Joe Baggs has revealed why he's using a new 'Family-Approved' dating app feature which involves mum Lisa helping him find the one.
A dating app feature which lets your friends and family tell your potential date their thoughts on you? My mum calls me, 'Noodle-doo', so no thank you.
Saying that, while the idea may initially make you shrivel up in a ball, cringe inside and clutch your phone to your chest that bit tighter, duo Joe and Lisa Baggs - who appeared on Channel 4 reality TV series Gogglebox alongside dad Terry and brother George - have revealed what they think of Badoo's new dating app feature and why 'mum always knows best'.
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Badoo's new feature which launched on 7 June includes a video clip a family or friend can record in which they speak about you, prompts listing family and friend's reviews of you, interests approved by family or friends and finally a badge which shows you've been 'Family-Approved'.
It's daunting, seems a bit risky, and my mum would definitely embarrass me, but as Joe tells Tyla, he definitely 'struggles to sell [himself] on dating apps' - something Badoo found 71 percent of other singles find difficult too.
While Joe notes his mum can be 'quite fiery,' he admits she does have 'nice things to say about [him]' and after 'a string of terrible relationships,' he thought why not try getting his family involved.
But is there anything Joe wouldn't want his mum to say about him?
"There's probably things I wouldn't let you share about me like my dating history. Probably my eating habits," Joe reflects.
He also admits his mum helped with a spot of personal grooming the other day. I won't say what, but maybe if you match with Joe on Badoo he - or Lisa - will tell you.
Lisa chimes in: "And the fact that you portray that you're so clean and tidy but at home, you're bloody well not."
As Lisa says, 'Mum's know best,' and indeed it's only his mum Joe would probably let give him a review.
"I don't know whether there's anyone else in this family that I would trust. I mean, George would be the worst to Family Approve me."
"I think Dad will just humiliate you," Lisa responds. "[And] I wouldn't be too nice. You just want to have a laugh and make [other] people laugh."
The feature also includes 'chosen family,' not just blood-relatives, Joe noting he definitely has a few best friends in mind to help him out, but others he wouldn't let anywhere near the feature.
However, it's all gone smoothly so far with Lisa's input, Joe explaining it's nice to see a dating app doing 'something different'.
"Especially because we're such a tight-knit family. And I know for me looking for someone else, family is a big thing that's really important to me," he says.
Joe notes the 'Family-Approved' feature makes him feel a lot safer and confident in knowing who's interested in dating more seriously.
"For me, it's a green flag. Because anyone could say anything online.
"If I see someone with this badge, I know that their intentions are probably pure in the fact that they trust their family member to sell them."
Lisa reflects Badoo's new 'Family-Approved' feature could also 'help the potential partner feel a little bit at ease,' as they'll have 'practically already met,' a family member or friend.
However, she warns she's actually already 'got a [type of] person in mind' for Joe.
The mum resolves: "I know him better than anybody else so I know exactly what would suit him. You gotta get past me first."
For now, Joe 'couldn't be any more single if [he] tried,' but maybe with the help of being 'Family-Approved' by his mum, his dating luck could be about to change.