89-yr-old man flooded with support after being stood up by his date. It was his first date in 30 years

An 89-year-old has been inundated with love and support after being stood up on his first date in 30 years. On February 12, a TikTok user, named GrandadJoe posted a 'get ready with me' video of him tidying up his hair with an on-screen caption that read, "come with me on my first dinner date in 30 years!" In the video, he can be seen sitting at the table, patiently waiting for his date to arrive. He looks at his phone to check if she texted him to cancel the meet-up. Another caption stated that after waiting for an hour, he gave up and decided to eat alone.

On TikTok, the now-viral video has amassed over 1.1 million views and more than 4,300 comments. Many viewers have praised Grandad Joe for handling the situation with grace instead of getting all worked up. "Awww, I am so sorry, but you look dashing as always," commented @lucy_theboss10. "You, my friend, are one of the most respectable people." Waiting an hour and not badmouthing someone "You are an inspiration," @jorretarded said. Some users even offered to take Joe out on a date. "I wish I was in the UK! "I would have loved to have dinner with you," @privatecaboose replied. "Omgoodness you look so handsome! I would never have stood you up, sweet man! God bless you! She was not the one for you! "Hugs!" added @laurah.harris. 

According to the BBC, for the past four and a half years, Joe Allington has been living with his daughter and her family. He thanks his granddaughter, Brooke Paintain, 17, for familiarizing him with smartphones and TikTok. "I don't think old people generally look at TikTok very much," admits Allington. "It's all youngsters—seven and eight-year-olds." The duo first uploaded lip-syncing videos on Musical.ly. "She was doing all these weird dances that kids do on TikTok and trying to get me lipsyncing," says Allington. He wasn't interested initially, but since 2020, he has been an active user of TikTok with over 6.2 million followers.

In the late 1940s, after leaving school at the age of 14, Allington spent many years working at a petrol tanker. He formally took on the role of a family man for his grandchildren and daughter Wendy Paintain when he retired at age 65. Upon joining TikTok, he says that he "found his second childhood." Besides posting quirky videos of him dancing with high-drama skits, there are occasional references to his wife, who passed away in 2009. "Wendy coerced me into doing little bits of acting for the videos, which I did, and it's taken off from there," he says. "I quite enjoy being made up, dressed up, and made a fool of. Wendy says: 'Dad, we're doing TikTok, we're doing this today.' Then I just do as I'm told. I'm very obedient, you know."

Allington was oblivious to his internet fame and none of his friends knew about it. While he self-isolated with his family, Allington would go out for meals with them two or three times a week and visited the local karaoke club every Saturday night. Though that isn't like Tiktok, he enjoys karaoke very much. Timothy Armoo, an influencer marketing agency that manages TikTok stars, said that teenagers on TikTok have a soft spot for grandparents. "On TikTok, if you did something with your parents, people might think that's a bit cringe," he says. "But if you did it with your grandparent, it's so incredible that your grandparent would know how to use TikTok, that it becomes quite cool."