Hat Trick’s Dinner Date to Be Adapted in South Africa

Hat Trick International has licensed its factual-entertainment format Dinner Date to SABC in South Africa, where the show will see a 13-episode local version launch this month.

The SA treatment will be produced locally by Phoenix Productions in collaboration with Quizzical Pictures. The series will launch on SABC3 on April 5 in prime time.

Originally produced by Hat Trick Productions for the U.K.’s ITV1 and ITVBe, Dinner Date is now in its eighth season for ITVBe. The new South African iteration adds to local adaptations in France (Direct 8), Australia (Channel Seven) and Finland (MTV3).

Sarah Tong, the director of sales at Hat Trick International, commented, “I’m delighted to announce this brand-new format adaptation for Dinner Date in South Africa. The format delivers a very simple and highly returnable series, which is both cost-effective to produce and also ensures hugely entertaining content that will appeal to a wide range of viewers. The show continues to be very popular in the U.K., and I look forward to seeing it prove a hit for SABC.”