Show of the week: Couple or Not?

Billed as ‘Deal or No Deal with humans’, Couple or Not? is Vivendi Entertainment (VE)’s latest game show, which asks contestants to match two people together based on a range of clues.

The show will feature a pair of contestants who have to reassemble six couples hidden among a group of 20 people. At the start of each round an individual will appear with several potential partners.

Each round sees more potential partners and more money at stake. To help them, they can call on three love experts to get clues about the couples.

“You often need luck to guess the right partner,” says Damien Porte, vice president of international distribution at VE.

“The format is developed so that viewers at home can play along,” he continues. “Also, some funny comments are made by contestants and the host, who has a comedy background, and it’s playful.”

The idea for the show emerged out of a guessing game Porte played in restaurants, which was based on guessing whether two people at the dinner table were in a relationship or with friends or family. It also followed after the success of Guess My Age, which has been sold to ten territories so far.

“We were looking for another universal concept which could be played in every territory regardless of language or culture, so we thought guessing who is with who would be the right format to invest in,” says Porte.

The move comes as gameshows show resurgence in territories in Central and Eastern Europe like Hungary, Romania and Russia as well as Thailand and Latin America.

“We focus on shows that can appeal to the whole family and which are very visual, hoping that they will be commissioned and on air in daily slots,” says Porte.

Vivendi-owned French DTT channel C8 launched the format in December 2017, which Flab Prod produced. VE has since sold rights into Russia, Hungary and Thailand.

The show: Couple or Not?
The broadcaster: C8 (France), UTV (Russia), TV2 (Hungary), Channel 3 (Thailand).
The producer: Flab Prod.
The distributor: Vivendi Entertainment
The concept: Gameshow in which contestants must guess the identity of couples