Don't Tell the Bride gets hitched in South Africa
Details
Editor
| 18 September 2019

A+E Networks South Africa has acquired from producer/originator DRG the rights to produce a localised version of its long-running, successful relationship format Don’t Tell the Bride.

Don’t Tell the Bride, is claimed to be the world’s most popular wedding programme. The original UK version has been sold to more than 200 individual territories and it has been remade to date in 17 countries. Starting life on BBC3 in the UK in 2007 the show moved to BBC1 for six episodes and then onto Sky1, before arriving at E4 in 2017.

Following earlier format deals in countries such as China, Australia, France and the US, this new contract will mark the eighteenth local production for the title. Currently in the development stage, the series is planned to debut on A+E Network’s Lifetime in South Africa. The broadcaster has previously acquired four recent series of the UK version in 2019 alone.

Series 14 of the UK version, produced by Renegade Pictures, premiered this month and DRG has retained the rights to the 15 x 60’ new season. Nelonen in Finland has already acquired the new series, following previous deals for the show, while Discovery in Germany has acquired the title for the first time, starting with series 12 and 13, a total of 27 hours. Previously, six seasons of the UK series aired on ProSieben, while RTL2 produced a local version.

Commenting on its new run, Kelly Hornsby, head of acquisitions at A+E Networks, who agreed the deal with DRG commented: “Everybody loves a good wedding and Don’t Tell the Bride provides a constant stream of really great weddings – from a viewer’s perspective. The drama, laughs, tears and tantrums of the UK version have already resonated with our viewers, so we can’t wait for the response to a homegrown version featuring local people, and customs and locations unique to South Africa.”

DRG commercial director Adam Barth, who concluded the deal with A+E Networks, added: “Don’t Tell the Bride is an evergreen, appealing format that continues to be popular in the international marketplace, despite a plethora of new and more extreme wedding shows. The simplicity of the idea – getting the groom to make all the arrangements in secret, including choosing the bridal gown – is its real genius and works the world over as, despite calls for equality, men rarely choose to organise their wedding in real life.”