18th January 2022
UKTV's premium entertainment channel W has commissioned a brand new UKTV original dating show with a twist. Produced by Harbar 8 and BBC Studios, each episode of Dating With My Mates (10X60') follows a group of four friends as they navigate the sometimes daunting world of dating at a dinner party like no other.
Four single best friends are going out for a three-course dinner with a difference. This time the food is not the focus but the company - with each course the group of friends will also be served up a different potential date. However, once the plates have been cleared, the dates must leave, and deliberation begins. At the end of the night, their lucky dates can return, to ask out only one of the mates. But will there be a match, or will their choices cause drama amongst the four friends?
Dating With My Mates is commissioned by Helen Nightingale, senior commissioning editor, and ordered by Adam Collings, channel director for W. Richard Watsham is UKTV's director of commissioning and Steve North is genre general manager, comedy and entertainment. Executive producer for Harbar 8 is Daniel Clark-Neal and Pete Ogden for BBC Studios and the series is produced by Michelle Kirschner-Grant and directed by Marko Gowan.
Helen Nightingale said,
This unique new series for W gives viewers a softer more thoughtful look into the world of modern dating. Our daters are looking for real connection and we think this show gives them the opportunity to find just that.
Adam Collings said,
We're so excited to launch this clever new dating format on W. The most daunting part of dating can often be when your love interest meets your best friends, let alone hoping to meet Mr or Ms Right. This brilliant new approach allows our singletons to do both, at the same time. (We hope viewers will love Dating With My Mates as much as we loved the pilot.)
Pete Ogden said,
This is our first commission for W, collaborating with them on a dating show is new territory and has been a lot of fun. We look forward to viewers seeing the hard work that has gone into this brilliant series.
Daniel Clark-Neal said,
I'm excited to be working with W again. This is a dating show with friendship at its heart. Dates may come and go, whilst friends are there for the long haul. But that doesn't stop us looking for love again...and again. In this show, we date with our friends by our side and I can't wait to help play Cupid.
Dating With My Mates will air exclusively in the UK on UKTV's W channel following a slate of fresh new programming on W including, Emma and AJ Get To Work, Nurses on the Ward, Inside the Ambulance and Nurses Down Under, in addition to the recently announced series Rochelle Humes: Interior Designer in the Making.
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About UKTV
UKTV has been at the forefront of branded television for over 25 years, entertaining the nation with programmes they love. Its leading brands - Dave, Gold, W, Drama, Alibi, Eden and Yesterday - span comedy, entertainment, natural history, factual and drama, and are delivered to audiences through UKTV Play, Freeview, Sky, Virgin Media, BT, TalkTalk, YouView, Freesat and Amazon Fire. The broadcaster is a significant investor in British creativity and is committed to working with new and established writers, directors and programme-makers.
UKTV is part of BBC Studios, the UK's most-awarded production company, a world-class distributor with international branded services, and a commercial subsidiary of the world's leading public service broadcaster, the BBC.
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About W
Sky 109/245, Virgin 124/191 & TalkTalk 407 / On demand on Sky and Virgin W is UKTV's premium entertainment channel, offering audiences a dazzling mix of UKTV Original series with some of the UK's most-loved talent in front and behind the camera.
W offers a wide variety of shows that tap into the raw and genuine heart swell moments, from emotions running high at the sound of a baby's first cry in the award-winning Emma Willis: Delivering Babies, to heart-stopping drama for the incredible frontline workers in Inside the Ambulance and 999 Rescue Squad. Elsewhere, award-winning documentary maker Stacey Dooley offers an insight into unseen areas of modern relationships and family life in the hit series Stacey Dooley Sleeps Over, and Dr Ranj Singh provides support to individuals with some of the most severe food phobias in Extreme Food Phobics.
W is also the exclusive home to joyful competitive cookery formats Plate of Origin and the effervescent MasterChef franchise, including MasterChef Australia, MasterChef USA and MasterChef Juniors.