Dating

Scarlett Moffatt to host new ITV2 dating show Love Bites

Love Bites will see three suitors battle it out in the kitchen for a date with a single foodie.

Using the same set of ingredients, the suitors will each cook a three-course meal for the foodie to judge, and Moffatt will be there to guide the singletons as they draw on all their culinary might in the pursuit of love.

Moffatt said: "I’ve always been obsessed with both dating and cookery shows so this rolled into one really is the dream gig for me.

ITV2 orders new cookery dating show Love Bites

Fusing food and dating in an all-new format, Love Bites pits three suitors against each other in order to win a date with a single foodie.

Using the same set of ingredients, the suitors will each cook a three-course meal side by side in the Love Bites kitchen in the hopes of appealing to the singleton’s palate.

The singleton will then have to choose the best chef for a date.

ITV2 commissions new dating series The Cabins

The series will challenge young singles to look beyond their dating apps to find their soulmates, immediately moving in together with their potential partners.

Each couple will stay in their own luxurious log cabins in stunning settings within the UK.

Isolated and intimate, the stage will be set for the singletons to get to know one another, sharing heartfelt moments or suffering awkward silences. All for viewers to see if the sparks fly.

After enjoying or enduring the first 24 hours, the couples will then have to decide to continue or call it a day.

The best dating shows to binge-watch this week

Clockwise from top left: Love Island, Love Is Blind, Hot Property (Credit: ITV, Netflix, BBC)

With everyone unable to leave the house to meet up with their latest dating app match, the only option is to live vicariously through others or brave a first date over FaceTime.

Here are some of the best dating shows to keep you company while social distancing.

 

Love Is Blind – Netflix

The social dating experiment, Love Is Blind, was a Netflix sensation and has already been renewed for two more series following its success.

Netflix releases Love Is Blind Reunion teaser

Lauren Speed and Cameron Hamilton (Credit: Netflix)

Described as a dating show with a difference, it sees a group of single men date a group of single women, but the twist comes in that they are only allowed to talk to each other in special pods that prevent them from seeing what the other person looks like.

This tests if they can form a strong emotional connection before a physical connection is made.

The couples who fall in love then get within the first ten days and only then do they get to see their fiancé for the first time.

First Dates set to move to Manchester

Credit: Channel 4

First Dates originally aired in 2013 and the popular format has been repeated in over 20 territories, with a spin off show, First Dates Hotel, created in 2017 taking the search for love to France and Italy.

Hundreds of couples have been matched up in the search for their soulmate, with the help of Maître d’ Fred Sirieix and his team.

The show has led to a host of engagements, marriages and even a baby.

The series production company, Twenty Twenty, has moved First Dates to Manchester as part of their commitment to UK regions.

Celebs Go Dating series eight singletons revealed

Amy Childs, Malique Thomson, Olivia Bentley, Dean Gaffney, Amy Hart, James Lock (Credit: Channel 4)

This year’s singletons ready to play the dating game includes Love Island star Amy Hart, who recently had her heart broken by fellow Love Island star Curtis Pritchard before dramatically leaving the villa in response to the breakup, former The Only Way Is Essex star Amy Childs, who after a recent split is hoping this will be her chance to meet Mr Right, and Made in Chelsea’s Olivia Bentley, who will be ditching the Chelsea dating scene in the hopes of finding a connection.

Dating show Hot Property will return for a second series

Credit: BBC

The series sees young singletons search for love by teaming up with Filly and snooping around the homes of three potential suitors, before choosing to go on a blind date with one of them.

Someone’s bedroom can reveal a lot about a person and the singletons will get to see if their potential dates have any skeletons hidden in their closet.

UKTV commissions The Ultimate Matchmaker

(Credit: UKTV)

The show seeks to give an insight into the world high-class dating, and viewers will be guided by elite matchmaker Lara Asprey and her team as they try to find the perfect match for their clients.

“This exciting new series for W is a funny and heart-warming peek into the extraordinary world of a very exclusive dating agency,”  said commissioning editor Helen Nightingale. She added,  ‘In the year that Prince Harry marries Meghan, don’t we all just yearn for a love story with a fairy tale ending?”

Event Report: First Dates Uncovered

First Dates C4

The Twenty Twenty Television production is that rare thing among dating shows – it wants audiences to like, not laugh at its lovelorn participants.

“The programme comes out of the docs department of Channel 4 so it’s not an entertainment programme, although it is entertaining,” said Sayers, who produces the series. “As much as it’s about love, dating and the funny, flirty, sexy things happening in the restaurant, it’s a documentary about people.”

First Dates has this amazing way of tackling big topics and themes,” she added.