All3Media International Takes on Eating with your Enemy

All3Media International has aligned with the Irish independent producer Animo TV and broadcaster Virgin Media Television to represent the format Eating with your Enemy (previously known as Eating with the Enemy).

The show launched on Virgin Media One and was the channel’s most successful original format launch ever. All3Media International will handle global sales for the factual format and the original finished 6×1-hour series by Animo TV.

Eating with your Enemy looks at what happens when people with totally different views have meaningful conversations in real life, by pairing together strangers with strongly opposing views. The pair, who meet in a restaurant, is watched by a team of psychologists, who are decoding, observing and analyzing their interactions to see whether these perceived enemies can find common ground in reality.

Debbie Thornton, executive producer at Animo TV, commented, “Eating with your Enemy has proved a huge hit for Virgin Media One and has certainly sparked debate across Ireland—so we’re pleased to partner with All3Media International to get more countries talking. The series has brought together total strangers with contradictory viewpoints on a range of divisive topics to see whether they can find common ground. With valuable insight from our experts, it’s a unique opportunity to witness these real-life conversations—at a time when so many views are only aired online—and to also explore the dynamics behind them.”

Nick Smith, executive VP of formats at All3Media International, added, “We’re very confident that Animo TV’s timely new format will resonate as well in the international market as it has done with viewers in Ireland. Eating with your Enemy offers a simple premise that’s easy to adapt, yet the result is powerful television that sparks important conversations—not just between the participants but also among viewers at home. At a time when our world can seem so polarised, these open, honest, face-to-face debates on a variety of subjects offer vital insight into different experiences and perspectives.”

Bill Malone, director of content for Virgin Media Television, said, “This noisy new format not only proved a ratings success on Virgin Media One but was consistently one of the top TV trends on social media each week and was one of the stand-out new series on our Virgin Media free Player.”