The date was perfect – until I saw his mum

A woman's promising fourth date with a man she met on Hinge turned awkward when his mother joined them at a jazz concert, sitting in the front row. The date, which she had hoped would spark romance, instead left her shocked and uncomfortable as the man's mother had unexpectedly been included in the plans.

‘This can’t be happening,’ I thought. My date https://metro.co.uk/2026/05/13/perfect-first-date-one-text-changed-everything-28325996/ , Ryan , had just met me at the door of the jazz concert venue with our tickets. ‘We’re sitting in the front,’ he’d said with a smile. I had naturally assumed ‘we’ meant him and me – until we’d approached the stage and his mum https://metro.co.uk/2026/06/28/a-mum-five-im-scrutinised-husband-celebrated-28893947/ had waved at us from a front-row table. What was happening? When I first met Ryan, I’d been single https://metro.co.uk/2025/05/03/7-main-reasons-chronically-single-cant-find-love-23011076/ for over two years and had spent the past 16 months on the apps. I was enjoying dating https://metro.co.uk/2025/11/01/struggling-dating-apps-let-a-man-revamp-profile-24557201/ but hadn’t yet found anyone who felt like they could be a potential partner. Ask Metro Use AI to go deeper into the stories you care about – powered by Metro and trusted publications. Ryan and I matched on Hinge https://metro.co.uk/2023/11/17/flew-dorset-sweden-a-hinge-date-now-engaged-19838643/ and immediately connected. We messaged about our similar experiences of living abroad. I appreciated his engaging, thoughtful responses – a refreshing change from the unoriginal messages I often received on the apps. We met for dinner, and from the beginning of the date, I instantly got a good vibe from Ryan. We avoided awkward small talk https://metro.co.uk/2021/08/04/a-strangers-small-talk-saved-my-life-it-could-help-others-15032044/ , instead chatting effortlessly for a couple of hours over dumplings and sweet and sour chicken. The date only ended when we realised the restaurant was about to close. As cliché as it sounds, I felt a spark I hadn’t felt in a long time. ‘Maybe this guy actually has potential,’ I thought. ‘How are you getting home?’ Ryan asked me as we put on our coats. ‘I’ll just take a taxi,’ I said. ‘What about you?’ He averted eye contact as he answered, ‘My mum is coming to pick me up.’ I was surprised – Ryan was in his mid-30s – but he’d just moved back home after a decade of living abroad and didn’t have a car. I figured his mum had missed having him around and had perhaps offered to come get him. ‘We can drop you off if you’d like,’ he said. I hesitated for a moment, then thought: ‘Why not?’ I was curious to see what his mum was like. She seemed nice, asking me polite questions about myself during the ten-minute drive. After that first date, we continued to text frequently. Ryan was a good communicator and initiated our next couple of dates – neither of which his mum showed up to. While I liked Ryan and enjoyed talking to him, neither one of us had made a move to kiss https://metro.co.uk/2026/01/20/a-good-kisser-not-find-26386837/ the other yet, and I was starting to wonder if he was interested in anything romantic. I was nervous and was hoping he would make the first move, but his body language hadn’t been flirty https://metro.co.uk/2024/11/21/sent-men-rude-messages-dating-apps-21934057/ . I didn’t know if he was just trying to be respectful or if he only saw me platonically. For our fourth date, Ryan invited me to an evening jazz concert held at a local arts center. I was excited – I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to see if there was any romantic potential between us. The date idea felt more romantic – our second and third dates had been coffee https://metro.co.uk/2026/06/27/forget-lattes-flat-whites-a-new-way-drink-coffee-28921897/ and brunch – and he bought the tickets for us. The evening of the concert, he arrived at the venue early and said he’d meet me at the door to let me in. That turned out to be the last moment I felt any excitement about Ryan. After he met me at the venue door, we made our way through the dimly-lit room – and that’s when I saw his mum. I couldn’t believe it. When we’d been chatting about our plans for the evening, I’d thought that just the two of us were going on a date. He hadn’t said anything about his mum joining. When I saw her, I was so in shock that I began to run on autopilot: I greeted her politely and sat down in the seat they’d saved me. The concert started shortly afterward, and so thankfully I had a good excuse to stay silent and try to enjoy the music. I couldn’t relax, though, keenly aware of Ryan’s mum’s presence next to me – but both Ryan and his mum seemed completely comfortable. I wondered if this was something they’d done before. Comment Now metro-comments-container After the concert, his mum offered to take me home, and so I said yes — at this point, we’d already spent a couple of hours together. What was another fifteen minutes? ‘Do you want to get something to eat?’ she asked once we were in the car. ‘I’m good,’ I insisted, despite the fact that I hadn’t yet eaten dinner, it was after 10:00pm, and I was so hungry I worried my stomach was about to start growling. The next day, Ryan texted me as if we’d had a completely normal evening. I knew there was no way I could keep going out with him, but I didn’t know if I should confront him about his mum’s appearances on our dates or just let it go. Then, he told me he had to take an unexpected trip abroad and asked to see me before he left. I agreed, figuring I could broach the mum topic in person – as long as she wasn’t there – but I ended up getting sick right before we were supposed to meet. I cancelled, he told me he hoped I got better soon, and then neither one of us ever reached out again. What a way to find out there was, in fact, no romantic potential with Ryan. I still have no idea whether Ryan’s mum invited herself on our date or if he genuinely thought it was normal to bring her – or if he was trying to friendzone me and this was his approach. Either way, I guess I’ll never know – but next time someone’s parent comes to pick them up from a date, I’ll know it’s time to end things. Name has been changed Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing izzie.price@metro.co.uk. Share your views in the comments below. 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