Down For Love

To me, it's really important to find love

'cause that's what makes you human.

I'm looking for love of a girl who is brilliant, intelligent,

beauty both inside and outside.

My perfect man could be funny, generous, and kind.

Very young, slim, and blonde.

Are you romantic, Libby?

People say that I... I'm a hopeless romantic,

so I guess so.

Yeah, I'm down for love. Yes, I am!

We all want love, companionship, and affection,

to love and be loved.

Will you be my boyfriend?

But finding that special person isn't always easy.

Tip of the day. Treat your girl as a princess.

This series follows New Zealanders living with Down syndrome

as they go on a series of dates...

I have some butterflies in my stomach right now.

You scrub up well.

...exploring the ups and downs of romance...

If the date goes wrong,

I might cry.

...and the complexities of relationships...

Do you two want to have children?

Um, no.

...in the search for true love.

- You are a wonderful lady, ain't you? - That's me.

- I don't like her. - What?

I love her.

- Are you ready, Josh? - Oh yeah, I am ready.

I'm Josh Raymond Bradley.

I am nearly 21.

I've been looking for love for a long time.

My perfect girl's gotta be

nice, awesome,

cutest girl I know.

- Why do you want a girlfriend? - I love cuddling and kissing.

Josh lives in Auckland with his parents, Nicola and Todd,

and his brother, Max, and sister, Keira.

You guys should do uh, paper, scissors, rock to see who starts.

- Yeah. - Paper, scissors, rock.

- He's awesome. -

Slightly biased, but I think he's awesome.

Tip it over on the first go.

Come on, Joshy.

Nothing really fazes Josh.

I got it.

He is the most positive person I think I've ever met.

Oh no, it's not gonna fall!

I reckon Josh will be an awesome boyfriend

'cause he's so... he's s...

He's very generous as well.

Very generous and very caring.

But so far, true love hasn't found Josh.

I've been looking for a girlfriend for four years,

and it's really hard and frustrating.

Okay, **** it.

- - I think you just quit, Josh.

Josh!

Josh was our first,

and we were quite young for this day and age, I suppose.

- I was 26. - Yeah.

We didn't know anything about Down syndrome.

It was, uh... It was a... a huge shock.

A lot of learning happened in the next, uh, very quick period.

Patience is probably the first thing you... you learn and have to adjust to.

I wasn't patient.

I was the most unpatient person you've probably ever met, eh? Yep.

Okay.

So we've chosen to bring Josh up in himself, knowing that he's in charge.

He chooses the direction he wants to take.

- Yes! - Josh.

I love wrestling.

Gotta be my dream job.

These are the wrestlers.

Ultimate Warrior.

Ric Flair. He's a dude.

He says, "Whoo!"

I love Ba... Batista.

And I like "Stone Cold" Steve Austin!

Get him, Joshy.

It's a sport where Josh has the edge on his brother, Max.

- I'm done. - Winner!

- Got him. - Winner.

- I did beat up Max. -

That was a hell of a match.

There is one match Josh hasn't been able to win though.

Max has a girlfriend, and he doesn't.

My brother started kissing and stuff,

and it made me feel, "I wanna do it! I wanna do it! I wanna do it!"

And it's not for want of trying.

On Tinder, I got, like, messages from girls and stuff. Yeah.

It says, "Happy man, ladies' man."

Ain't that the truth.

But Josh's fortunes may be about to change

as he ramps up his search for love.

It's gonna be awesome.

Well, my name is Libby Hunsdale,

and I am 19 years old.

Down syndrome is actually an extra chromosome

which allows you to learn differently from other people.

It just gives me a lot of joy and happiness.

Love to me, actually, is someone who you can trust

and someone who you can talk to,

and someone that is... that is 100% loyal

and honest with you all the time.

Have you ever experienced love, Libby?

Um...

Only with my parents, but that's about it.

Libby lives in Whanganui with her grandmother, Barb.

Spreading the news

I can't dance.

I'm leaving today

Me and my grandma just get on like a house on fire.

Oh my goodness.

What happened?

They're meant to be scones.

Well, at least you tried.

She's fun to live with.

She's my best friend.

I like your outfit.

It is cool.

We love doing a lot of the same things.

It's like having a girlfriend living with me.

Okay, my room is down here.

I did put some decor up onto the walls,

like my guitar certificates for what I've been in.

I love pink. It...

I think I'm a bit too obsessed with the color of pink,

mostly because it stands out quite a lot,

and it's very girly.

Also ,

I have, um...

...my ideal partner.

He is very good-looking, obviously.

I would 100% love to have a boyfriend,

but the thing is, um,

when you have an intellectual disability,

it is so damn hard

to find someone that is on the same level as you

when it comes to communication and intelligence.

- What am I doing? - You're buffering.

- You gonna do the cheese? - Yeah.

Okay. All right, then.

Why is it hard to get a girlfriend?

'Cause...

'cause...

...my... my speech.

Mm. Okay. That's probably a good reason why it's hard.

Yeah. All you girls love me though. Yeah.

The girls do love you. Why... Why is that? Why do you reckon the girls love you?

'Cause I'm cheeky and funny.

I'm looking for, like, funny and cheeky like me.

Hmm. That's pretty good. I like those qualities.

What's another good quality to have in a girl?

Strong and sexy.

"Pretty" might be another way of putting it.

And pretty.

Mm. Okay. Cool.

Just because he's got an extra chromosome, and that's... that's, uh, real easy.

He's got one extra chromosome.

It shouldn't make him any different from you and I.

Um... and every human has that urge

of wanting love and wanting a connection.

And, yeah, he should have that too.

That's a gorgeous photo.

Yeah.

- God, look how chubby I was. - Yeah, I know.

Libby's quite mature.

I mean, she's been through experiences

that a lot of children her age haven't been through.

My mum,

she was diagnosed with brain cancer when I was only two years old,

and I had to live with her seizures for about 12 years of my life.

She sadly passed away with my grandma right by her side,

and Grandma was crying.

And I remember walking in that morning,

late morning,

and I saw my mum...

...my mum dead and stuff, and I had a full-on panic attack.

Like, that was the first time in forever

that I ever had that, so, yeah.

My mum taught me that life is too short

to even care what people think of you.

And that was your first walk.

I took you down the road from the hospital.

The day that Lib was born,

one of Kim's friends rang me

and said that she had Down syndrome.

I started crying,

and I kept thinking, "Oh, she'll never go to her first ball."

"She won't do this, won't do that."

How wrong was I?

In fact, Libby's achieved so much more than most girls her age.

She was chosen to play the lead in a new film called Poppy

about a girl living with Down syndrome.

The film mirrored my own life

because Poppy's parents died,