Bosses behind Virgin Media’s new dating show Generation Dating said the show will be totally different to RTE’s First Dates Ireland, despite being made by the same creators.
Created by production team Coco Content, this new TV show for VMTV brings together single people to share advice on life and love and help each other find their perfect match.
The catch? One singleton will be in their twenties and the other will be over 65, and both will be tasked with helping the other to find love.
Asked if there is room for a new dating show to the TV schedule, as the new show is due to launch this evening ahead of First Dates’ slot on RTE Two on Thursdays, producer Anthony Nilan told Irish Daily Mirror: “I think so there is always an appetite for it.”
Detailing the difference between the shows, he added: “There are so many layers to our show that are not just about the dating. The dating is just one element.
“The real story is what is what is the relationship between two people here that are first glance are polar opposites and what joins them together.
“And I think there is a bigger narrative."
“I think it is a really compelling piece, and absolutely there is room for that because it is a different way of telling these stories that will tell them apart.”
After spending the past two years working on the ‘passion project’, due to Covid delays and perfecting the format, Anthony, who has also worked on Gogglebox and The Restaurant said they never wanted to rush the show.
“It’s been quite a journey,” he said.
“It was a mix, the initial delay was taking the idea and putting a shape around it. And to make sure it wasn’t too contrived. And then we did the pilot and it landed really well. But then Covid hit.
“And we actually were hoping to go into production a lot earlier but in a lot of cases we were dealing with some vulnerable people. And we had to be really cognisant of that, really careful.
“We delayed until it was absolutely right.”
He added: “We had a duty to represent everybody on this and not just go cliche…” explaining that the show’s aim is to be inclusive and open up conversations between people not only of different generations, but also different backgrounds, sexuality, and race.
“It is really good storytelling that took time to get to that point and that was what was important to us, it wasn’t just about ticking a box and get to air.
“Our content has to work hard for us and we wanted to make sure that this was the right show that fit our network. We are the home of Love Island, but we also tell stories in a very unique and nuanced way.”
And it has seemed to have worked, as he teased the show format is already on the way to being picked up abroad.
“My view as a content creator is never to make a show to sell it, that’s the worst way to go about this, and that was never the approach, it was to make a brilliant show for Virgin Media Television, but what we have found is that there is huge international interest around this and we are very close to signing some very deals in the next couple of weeks which will mean it will be made elsewhere.”
First up in tonight’s debut episode is Isabel Fernandes, 22, who is paired with 81-year- old former Teddy Boy Tony Dunne, on their joint quest to find love.
But the proud Cork woman, who is half Irish on her mum’s side and half Indian/Portuguese on her dad’s side admitted love wasn’t her only motivation when entering the show.
Hoping the show will break the mold and promote better inclusivity in reality shows, she said: "There’s definitely, I don’t think, enough representation in these shows - in dating shows, in all these reality TV shows.
"There’s not enough representation for gay people, for gay men and gay women and all the queer community in general.
"So it was really nice to be able to put ourselves out there and especially with the older generation because I suppose, especially in Ireland, it can be seen as such a traditional group of people.
"So the fact that they can come and be open-minded and share that experience I think that's really important.
"And also on the other side of that, me being mixed race as well again, I don’t think there’s enough representation.
"So I think it’s nice to take the two elements and put it out there and make people more aware. I think it’s a really nice concept to take on."
"I hope it will be the start of something."
Isabel, who is working as a social housing officer in Dublin, also told how her grandparents death was also behind her decision.
“I used to live with them in Cork so I was very, very close to them.
“Then two of them passed away so there was a big gap in my life and like I said I get on very well with older people and my mam would be the same so it was really nice meeting Tony and having that and having the chats.
“And myself and Tony are planning on going out some night and having a game of bingo and things and all that. So it is lovely.
As Tony struggles to understand the intricacies of Isabel’s dating preferences, he drafts in her Mum, Anne - to get the inside information in tonight’s show.
And to give Isabel a sense of who he is and where he comes from, he takes her for a taste of the ‘Rare Oul Times’ at the Tenement Museum on Henrietta Street. And so begins a most unusual matchmaking challenge.
Tune in to Virgin Media One every Wednesday night at 9pm to see this intergenerational quest for love.
