Seven commissions ‘sizzling social experiment’ dating show Temptation Island
Seven is to double down on the TV industry’s love affair with dating shows with a reboot of its short-lived reality series Temptation Island.
The series last aired more than 15 years ago.
The format sees four couples taken to an island where the production crew do their best to persuade them to destroy their relationships in an entertaining manner.
According to Seven’s announcement: “Together, the couples travel to an island paradise where they live the ‘single life’, housed separately with a bunch of sexy singles who try to tempt them away from their relationships. In the end, will the couples leave together? Will they leave with one of the island’s ‘tempters’? Or will they break up and go home alone?”
The move follows Nine’s ratings dominance in the early stages of 2019 thanks to the success of Married At First Sight, along with the video streaming success of Nine’s racier 2018 commission of Love Island.
Like Married At First Sight, Seven says the “sizzling” show is a “social experiment”.
In a statement, programming boss Angus Ross said: “Temptation Island is the ultimate test of faithfulness. It’s a fascinating exploration of the familiar vs the fantasy relationship.
“Most of us have an ideal mate in mind and Temptation Island actually allows participants to meet that person and compare it with their present relationship. It then asks the question, will they stay or stray?”
Temptation Island was rebooted in the USA earlier this year for the USA Network where ratings were sufficiently strong to see it commissioned for a second series. Like Love Island in Australia, the show performed particularly well as a vehicle for catchup viewing.
Seven Studios will produce the show with reality veteran Matt Apps – who worked on shows including Big Brother, Hell’s Kitchen, My Kitchen Rules, Dancing With The Stars, Biggest Loser, Masterchef and Australias Got Talent – as executive producer.
It’s a social experiment, says the casting call
The network has launched a casting call. Filming is not due to begin until late this year, meaning the show is likely to screen early in 2020, potentially as a spoiler to MAFS or Love Island.
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