LIVING Commissions ITV Format

LONDON: LIVING has commissioned the newly created prime-time entertainment format My Ugly Best Friend from ITV Studios.

The hour-long series will premiere in December on LIVING. The show will transform women who find themselves living in the shadow of their aesthetically more attractive best friend. Each installment begins with a focus group, who provide information on how the less-attractive friend could be transformed. Led by a panel of experts and supported throughout the process by their best friend, these women will be offered access to the U.K.’s leading life-coaches, fitness and health experts, cosmetic and dental surgeons and fashion advisors. At the end of each show the transformation will be revealed in an uplifting celebration. My Ugly Best Friend will be executive produced by Claire Horton and Lee Connolly for ITV Studios.

Horton, the controller of entertainment at ITV Studios, said, “Most friendships have an element of imbalance, whether it’s intellectually or aesthetically. My Ugly Best Friend is a dramatic and emotionally charged show which throws the psychology of friendship under the microscope, challenging the power-balance of the relationship and testing how best friends will co-exist as the Ugly gets gorgeous.”

Remy Blumenfeld, the director of formats at ITV Studios, added, "The Ugly Duckling who becomes the Swan is the stuff of fairytales and makeover shows the world over. My Ugly Best Friend uniquely focuses on how this physical transformation can also transform one of the most important relationships in our lives. We are excited by the early international interest in this format and hope that best friends, beautiful and ugly the world over will soon be able to embark on this extraordinary journey."