His quest to find love on The Undateables made Daniel Wakeford a firm favourite amongst fans. And viewers were left in tears when Daniel popped the question to his girlfriend Lily Taylor during the Christmas special in 2018. The 31-year-old musician, who has autism, serenaded his girlfriend with Mariah Carey's smash hit All I Want For Christmas Is You, before asking Lily to marry him following a year-long romance. In celebration of the happy couple's 12-month engagement anniversary, we take a look back at the moment Daniel opened up about their fledgling relationship during an appearance on This Morning with his mum Carol…
The Undateables star Daniel Wakeford confirmed his romance on This Morning
"I met a girl in October, and things are going really well," Daniel revealed to hosts Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield, before Carol added: "She doesn't want to be in the public eye just yet, it's early days at the moment."
Carol further revealed that she had initially stopped her son going on the hit Channel 4 show, explaining that Daniel was asked to appear in the first series but that she had turned it down. "I didn't like the name of it, so it's a bit naughty, but I said 'No thanks', without asking Daniel," Carol said. "Then a year later he said he wanted to be on the show. I said I didn't think it was a good idea as it didn't sound very nice.
Daniel's mum Carol stopped her son from appearing in the first series
"But then Daniel said, 'Have you watched it mum?' I hadn't, so we all sat down and watched it, and I thought it was really lovely. We applied and got accepted, and the rest is history, as they say."
Carol also revealed that Daniel's appearance on The Undateables had encouraged her to create dating events for disabled singletons in the Brighton and Hove area. "These guys don't get the chance to socialise like you and I do, and they end up social isolated and vulnerable," she said.
"There are people meeting up at these events, and it's much more organic. It's gone from strength-to-strength, and now it's not just relationships, just also friendships. There's a group of girls who met who go out for lunch weekly."