Fans shocked as two ex-Liverpool players star alongside Jamie O'Hara on reality dating show

Former Liverpool attacker Ryan Babel has been joined by former academy player Lloyd Jones in a brand-new dating show that has been released in the United States of America.

The show takes place in Los Angeles and is a new reality dating show in which the ex-players - which also includes TalkSPORT pundit and former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O’Hara - head on dates with secret identities in order to find love. Titled ‘Love Undercover’, the players are not allowed to share their past history as a footballer to see if they can still woo women without their prior fame and make a genuine connection.

In terms of the other people involved, the show features five football players in total from around the world, with two other Mexican football stars taking part; 34-year-old Marco Fabián, who is a midfielder, and goalkeeper Sebastián Fassi, 30, joining O’Hara, Babel and Jones.

Babel joined Liverpool in 2007 for a fee around £11.5m and he went on to remain at the club for the next four years. Defined more as a back-up to the likes of Dirk Kuyt and Albert Reira, he scored 22 goals and provided 18 assists across 146 games. After Liverpool, he enjoyed stints at Ajax, Deportivo La Coruna, Besiktas, Fulham and Galatasaray. As it stands, he is currently a free agent and has been since September 2023 as his time at Eyüpspor came to an end.

Babel spoke to the Athletic in the lead-up to the show being released and he told ’The Athletic’: "There was an opportunity to actually see if you could make genuine connections with your status, title and achievements stripped away. I’m curious as to how it will be received. I was very self-aware and very conscious to make sure that I didn’t necessarily make a fool out of myself. But at the same time, I think I played my part."

Academy player Jones, 28, came through at Liverpool between the years of 2011 and 2014 and was a regular starter for the U21 side before being promoted to matchday squads. Having left Anfield in 2018, he had spent every senior season either on loan in the EFL or in the reserve side. Since departing, he has played for Luton, Northampton and Cambridge United before finding a home at Charlton Athletic. He has been a key figure this season starting 32 games. The first episode aired on streaming service Peacock on May 9 and runs for 10 episodes in season one.