INTERVIEW
When Muhammad Malik’s photo appeared on hoardings for dating site Muzmatch this month, the devout Muslim’s search for a wife went viral. So was it a stunt or is he really looking for the perfect partner?
Ben MachellThe TimesI meet Muhammad Malik at an upmarket coffee place in Borough Market, not far from London Bridge. We order our drinks – Americano for me, hot chocolate for him – and make polite small talk while we stand and wait. He lives, he says, way out in west London, near Heathrow, but works in Holborn as a financial technology consultant. He spends a lot of time on the Piccadilly Line and punctuality is not always his strong suit. He likes to tell himself that high-quality hot chocolate provides all kinds of health benefits, even though, deep down, he knows he just has a sweet tooth. The barista hands us our mugs and we move to a quiet corner. Malik, who is 29, sits upright and