Australia’s most famous beach and some hand-picked residents who qualify as Bondi’s “social elite” will star in a new Channel Seven reality TV show, Made in Bondi – the country’s answer to the UK hit Made in Chelsea.
Now in its 26th series, Made in Chelsea has made stars out of several cast members and generated countless headlines with its peek into the glamorous private lives of an outgoing bunch of people willing to bare it all all on television.
Made in Chelsea’s high production values will now be transported to Sydney’s east where producers are hoping to entice viewers to watch the shiny aspirational world surrounding the 1km-long strip of sand.
Seven has teamed up with Channel 4 to commission Made in Bondi, which promises to follow the lives and loves of young people who live in a suburb where the median cost of a two-bedroom apartment is A$1.57m and a three-bedroom house will set you back A$3.7m.
There are no casting details yet but Seven is promising opulence, drama and “a front-row seat to jaw-dropping parties, breathtaking fashion and sizzling romances”.
“From trendy bars to luxurious harbourside mansions, this group of young socialites will navigate the interconnected web of relationships that define their lives,” Seven announced at its 2024 programming launch in Darling Harbour on Wednesday.
A Seven programming executive, Angus Ross, said the Bafta award-winning Made in Chelsea was a true phenomenon of the reality TV genre and producers hoped the Bondi version would create the same buzz in Australia.
“Set against the backdrop of some of Australia’s most affluent and beautiful suburbs – and with an amazing cast of Sydney locals – Made in Bondi will be an addictive, glamorous and wild ride that will have viewers hooked from the first minute,” Ross said.
The head of youth and digital at Channel 4, Karl Warner, said he was thrilled to see “Made in” growing into a global franchise.
“Made in Chelsea has been the jewel in E4’s crown for over 10 years and has become one of the most important digital brands in the C4 portfolio, loved by our audiences across a range of platforms,” Warner said.
Other new shows on Seven’s slate include Stranded on Honeymoon Island, which appears to be Nine’s Married at First Sight on steroids. Newly married strangers who met on a speed date will be dumped on an island in their wedding attire.
The TV vet Dr Chris Brown, who has defected from Ten to Seven, will appear in no fewer than three shows. Brown, who starred in Ten’s Bondi Vet and The Living Room, will co-host Dancing with the Stars with Sonia Kruger after Daryl Somers stood down, a new property-based show called Dream Home and a new animal adventure series called Once in a Lifetime.
Seven West Media’s managing director and chief executive officer, James Warburton, said Seven was going into 2024 as the No 1 network nationally.
“No one can match Seven’s reach and our ability to bring mass cultural experiences to all of Australia,” Warburton said. “This year’s Fifa Women’s World Cup proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt and 2024 will again demonstrate our ability to touch the heart of Australia.”
