Lost lover: woman appears on China TV searching for father of child, 8, but does not know his name, number or address, shocking viewers

It was not until months later that she realised she was pregnant. She chose not to contact the man because she says he had a “bad attitude” and decided not to have an abortion because of the effect it might have on her body.

Feng described her romance with the man as “absurd”. She had hoped to have a serious relationship with him despite her concerns that the relationship was moving faster than she was comfortable with.

She added that because their break up was also so swift, the entire liaison soon felt “unreal”.

She explained that her reasons behind the search for him all these years later stem from the realisation that her daughter deserves the opportunity to meet her father.

However, she could not recall the man’s name and she had not saved his phone number. The only information she could remember was that the man’s address on his identity card back then was in Chongqing, and that a friend of his used to own an ice-cream shop.

Feng added that she is sure her daughter is this man’s because her life was “relatively simple”.

Video clips of the show attracted millions of views on the social media platform Douyin and many expressed shock and disbelief.

“Is it the plot of some cheesy soap opera?” A person on Weibo asked.

However, the father saw the programme and called Feng immediately. She said they were now discussing how to deal with the situation and the child’s future.

This is not the first time mainland social media has been shocked by unconventional relationships.

In October, there was a remarkable engagement party in northern China’s Tianjin province.

The couple, both named Wang Zekun, met at university and were initially drawn to each other because of their shared name. After dating for seven years, they decided to get engaged, which excited their relatives.