UK dating shows. Love them or hate them, they’re here to stay. Yet, aside from entertaining hundreds of thousands nationwide, do the matches they facilitate actually lead anywhere?
This is one of the questions asked in recent research conducted by Hunkemoller, a European retailer specialising in sexy lingerie. They analysed dating shows that are popular in Britain to find out which lead to true love and which don’t.
Keep reading to find out what they discovered.
The dating shows
How did the study work? Researchers looked at the percentage of couples who stay together after filming for the show stops. They called this the “success rate” of the show. This number makes it easy to compare each of the shows analysed. The main shows were:
Love Island UK
A well-known and addictive show on ITV that has men and women go through tasks in couples. The partners keep swapping until they find the right match for them.
Love Is Blind
One of Netflix’s contributions to the dating show world, Love Is Blind, has singles get engaged without meeting their partners face-to-face.
Too Hot to Handle
In this dating show set in paradises around the world, singles mingle and remain celibate for a prize of $100,000. Both US and UK viewers tune in to Netflix to find out who will win.
Married at first sight UK
In this UK adaptation of a Danish concept, aired on Channel 4, a team of experts pool their knowledge to pair up contestants with their “perfect” match.
First Dates UK
In this popular show, also on Channel 4, singles go on blind dates. After the date, they are interviewed together and asked questions about how it went, including if they’d like to see each other again.
Which show provides the best chance at finding love
Love is Blind scored highest with the most couples still together and a 33% success rate.
It was closely followed by Love Island UK, which scored a 24% success rate in the research.
Too Hot to Handle came in third with a 20% couple retention rate post-filming.
Married at First Sight UK was the last high scorer, with 16%.
First Dates UK and Naked Attraction scored very poorly, with “success rates” of only 3% and 2% respectively.
Dinner Date was least successful, having matched only one long-term couple in only a decade, despite running since 2010.
So, what’s the verdict?
Clearly, some UK dating shows have positive results, whereas others don’t.
Perhaps emerging shows can study current successes so that dating shows can be a more viable method of finding love in the future.
