Nobody likes to be rejected on a date.
And Ulrika Jonsson, 54, was left in the friend zone after a string of outings with 31-year-old Jad on the latest episode of E4's Celebs Go Dating.
On Monday night's episode, the Swedish TV presenter made her feelings clear to Jad but he offered her a response that no looking for love hopeful wants to hear - that he thinks they're missing a special "spark."
The news appeared to come as a surprise to the mother-of-four after she asked Jad if he was keen on joining her on a weekend away.
When she invited Jad to a getaway, he replied: "Do you feel like something is missing?"
Puzzled, Ulrika asked: "Like what?" before Jad continued: "Just a little spark between us, like I'm being honest. We've got along great as friends, but I feel like we've become good friends and I like it where it is."
Putting on a brave face, Ulrika kept it together during the date but later revealed she was floored by Jad's comment.
During a chat with her best friend Laura she became overwhelmed with emotion and created up as she relayed information following the date.
"I 100 per cent would have taken him on the mini-break. I'm not going to pretend otherwise," she shared.
After the heartbreaking scenes aired, viewers rallied around Ulrika on social media.
One supportive pal typed on Twitter : "Ulrika is a gracious, beautiful and honest woman. I hope she will meet the right person one day. I like her date, but he shouldn't have led her to this point. Oh, her friend is just lovely! #CelebsGoDating
"Awe no i actually feel a bit upset for ulrika she genuinely liked the guy its a horrible feeling when you get friendzoned #CelebsGoDating," another added.
A third penned on the micro-blogging site: "Awww I want to give Ulrika a hug. No matter what age you are. Dating sucks. Lol #CelebsGoDating."
Some Twitter users urged Ulrika to look for love with an older man and to step away from the younger chaps.
"Awww I feel so sad for Ulrika, but she needs to go for guys maybe in their late 40 perhaps rather than guys in their early or late 30s. She's 2 years younger than my mum. She's just going to get disappointed. Jad was nice to let her down nicely," one wrote.
More typed: "Why can’t Ulrika go for someone her own age" and "Ulrika is going to be constantly disappointed if she only wants men half her age."
Ulrika recently suggested she’s struggling to secure dates as people just want to meet up for sex and nothing else.
Opening up about online dating she told Heat magazine: “People want to meet up for sex, that’s one thing. But I might not want that.”
Ulrika feels that her lack of experience might make her search for love more difficult.
She said: “Up until less than a year ago, I had never been on a date – ever. I live in the backchat of beyond. I go for dog walks, I don’t go out. But I’ve recently tried online dating.
“I was so green when I started – there are so many catfish, and my sister kept telling me, ‘That’s a fake profile!’ Now I am so much wiser.”
Ulrika married her first husband, John Turnbull, in 1990 at the age of 23 and welcomed her first child when she was 27.
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She divorced John in 1995 and went on to date footballer Stan Collymore, then later had a romance with German hotel manager Marcus Kempen – with who she shares Bo with.
She embarked on a high-profile affair with former England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2002 and that same year fell for a contestant named Lance Gerrard-Wright from the dating show Mr Right – who she married in 2003, divorced in 2006, and shares her daughter Martha.
She then married American advertising executive Brian Monet in 2008 but divorced in 2019 and together they share son Malcolm.
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