Sexy Beasts Seduces Global Buyers

Nick Smith, the senior VP of format production at all3media international, talks to TV Formats about the dating format Sexy Beasts.

The importance of “looks” is often overemphasized in the world of dating—and especially on TV dating shows. The format Sexy Beasts removes this from the equation, using Hollywood-style prosthetics to transform daters before meeting their potential mates. The show aims to test whether singles can make meaningful connections based on personality alone.

The Sexy Beasts format was created in the U.K. by Lion Television, “which has a track record of coming up with simple-but-genius ideas and executing them beautifully,” says Nick Smith, the senior VP of format production at all3media international, which licenses the show. “They also created the worldwide smash Cash Cab.”

***Image***Sexy Beasts first saw two pilot episodes commissioned by BBC Three in 2014, back when it was still a linear channel. After airing successfully, the show was ordered to series.

The German (Sixx) and Chinese (Tencent) adaptations were the first to launch. “It was successful in both territories and they each recommissioned second seasons,” says Smith. The format has also been produced in the U.S. (A&E), Russia (CTC), South Korea (KBS) and Lithuania (TV3).

“The format is pretty consistent around the world,” Smith explains. “In fact, even the beast characters are similar because we allow other productions to use the masks we have created, although some territories created additional masks that appeal to local tastes—for example, a Chinese dragon in Asia.”

Smith says that other international adaptations have included tweaks to running times. “The original format is 30 minutes long; where longer running times have been required, we have approved changes such as increasing the number of contestants and the addition of having the characters go on a group date. It’s not every day that you see a lizard on a date with an alien, devil and Frankenstein!”

What must remain at the heart of the format, according to Smith, is the anonymity of the daters. “The key to the format is that the viewers must (just like the contestants) remain in the dark as to what the dates look like underneath their sexy beast mask until the last part of the program. While watching, you can’t help but imagine what the daters look like—quite often, the reveal is a huge surprise. This is the key to keeping the audience tuned into the program until the end. The good thing is that they always look better when their masks are taken off.”

The format has been optioned in a number of markets and Smith expects new deals to be announced soon. “There is huge interest in dating shows in the international TV community at the moment, but Sexy Beasts feels very different from other shows out there, allowing it to cut through,” he says. “It’s fun, with lots of laugh-out-loud moments in each episode, but the proposition is serious: if you take looks out of the equation, do your dating decisions change?”