Dating show 'next best thing' to Neighbours
Mortgage broker Tom Uhlich says his time shooting the popular television dating series My Mum Your Dad earlier this year was “interesting and hard at the same time”.
“I love challenging myself in all sorts of different areas,” Uhlich says. “I remember, I started running and then all of a sudden, I was doing Ironman.”
Uhlich, who has been a broker for 20 years and is CEO of Brisbane-based Boss Money, admitted that years ago he tried to break into acting, so when a friend-of-a friend approached him about being on the show he was intrigued.
“I had a crush on Kylie Minogue, so I really wanted to get on to Neighbours a long time ago and that didn’t work out so I guess it sort of went full circle and it was an opportunity that I couldn’t really say no to.”
Hosted by Kate Langbroek, the Nine Network TV series sees Uhlich living with 12 other parents in a luxury retreat as their adult children watch their romantic antics from inside a hi-tech spy bunker.
From the bunker the children can give instructions and take control of their parents’ dating life in the name of entertainment and romance.
Uhlich, who has been a broker for 20 years, appears in the reality series alongside his daughter Chloe (pictured above with Uhlich).
He said filming My Mum Your Dad in March gave the two a chance to become even closer and he was keen to give his daughter some television exposure.
“She's pretty special, she’s crackerjack,” Uhlich said. “That’s probably my main reason for doing the show; for people in Australia to see her because she is dynamic.”
Despite his time on the series, he does not plan to pursue a career outside mortgage broking.
“I love what I do.”
There’s no doubt the series has its fair share of humour, romance and cringy moments however Uhlich said his fellow brokers had been positive about his appearance on the small screen.
He did however receive some good-natured feedback “about saying things I shouldn't have said, but you sort of tend to forget the cameras around”.
From a business perspective, Uhlich’s appearance boosted his profile and his Instagram following jumped by 400, taking his total number of followers to 5,300.
“It's an extra 400 people that you can send your socials out to and put them on your database,” he said. “So even though I thought maybe I came across poorly on the show, and I might lose some, I haven't.”
Uhlich has also written up three loans because of the show where he is referred to by his nickname “Boss”, a homage to his company’s name.
“Even my kids call me Boss now, which is a bit strange instead of Dad. That started about a year ago, so it's just sort of flowed through. I'd rather be called Dad but Boss it is.”
Uhlich said other brokers should consider applying to appear on the series if it interested them “but it’s not easy”.
“It's definitely worth doing … it's on television and I guess you do get in front of a lot of people. There are all types on the show; not everyone's a loudmouth like me … and that's what makes the show interesting.”
With the series still airing, Uhlich was unable to reveal whether he finds love or not.
Were you pleased to see Tom Uhlich remind people that brokers don’t fit a stereotype?
