Downton Abbey star Brendan Coyle nears a half century of years on this green earth, he’s still looking for ‘the one’ despite a strong female fan base, The Telegraph reports.

In-between breaking hearts of British middle age woman, Coyle, who portrays wonderfully the character of John Bates, spoke openly and honestly about his love life, or lack of it: “I'm going to be 50 soon. I'm single, I'm looking for something meaningful," he said. "By the time you've been single for quite a long time, you can get quite specific about what you can and can't put up with. If this TV success had come in my twenties and I'd become a heart–throb, I would have been very stupid. I would have got into a lot of situations that I really wished I hadn't. But in my forties, that's not going to happen." Coyle is fresh from an on screen marriage, as his romance with on-screen partner Anna, the housemaid in Downton Abbey, became official in the eyes of the church. If only there were a real life Anna for Coyle to settle down with.

The 48–year–old actor has had many long–term girlfriends but never married. "I don't know if it's a good or bad thing, but only now am I truly ready for a relationship," he said.