The content wheel just keeps on turning and now we’ve got some new reality TV shows to try to squeeze into our already-chockers calendars.
We’ll keep this updated as more new shows are confirmed for our viewing pleasure, but let’s have a dive into what’s coming to Aussie screens in the not-too-distant future.
Modern Dating Australia
First up we have Modern Dating Australia, which is reportedly from the same people who have blessed/cursed us all with Married At First Sight. Applications opened for this new reality dating show in late 2021, and it promises a “new form of modern dating” for singles who are struggling to find love in this switched-on, swipe-right world.
Auditions are happening in March and filming is set to go for eight weeks over May and June, so we truly can’t wait for that chaos to land in the near future.
So Dramatic! spoke to someone who was approached by one of the producers of Modern Dating Australia, who told them the format of the show.
“They’re looking for a main cast of six guys and six girls, some non-binary and LGBTQIA, and they ask them what they’re looking for physically and emotionally in a partner,” the source said.
From there, contestants are given an iPad with everyone else’s profiles on them, and they apparently have to swipe through until they find someone they’re interested in.
“Hopefully sparks fly and you love them and that’s the journey we follow,” they said.
“If not, you can keep picking until you find the right match kinda thing.”
Sounds like it could possibly be more wholesome than the pure chaos we’re seeing in every season of MAFS, Bachelor and Love Island (and all the other ones in the dating reality TV realm). We’ll keep you updated when we know more.
The Transformation
Another new reality TV show coming to our screens is over on Channel 10. It’ll focus on the “nature and impact of appearances”.
It’s called The Transformation, and it looks like it’s about how we perceive each other and ourselves. Applications are open through B50 Productions, and it asks two pretty solid existential questions right off the bat: “are you defined by your choice of clothing?” and “are you where you want to be in life?”
The application process involves hopeful contestants uploading a video of themselves where they have to introduce their name, age, where they live and what they do for a living. Applicants also have to describe their sense of style and what area of their life they’d most want to see a change.
It sounds like some kind of Queer Eye-style life overhaul situation or a less unhinged version of 100% Hotter. Honestly, not mad about it and I’ll probably watch the shit out of people getting a life transformation.
Alone Australia
For those of us who are less into dating and the drama that follows it and would much rather watch people tough it out in the elements, there’s something for you too.
The cult-fave survival reality series Alone is headed to Australia to set up a bivouac, fashion together a gillnet and tough it out somewhere remote.
It’s essentially like a turbo Survivor. Contestants (who are all apparently “survival experts”) are left in the wilderness completely alone with no camera crew and only their chosen survival items with them. They have to do everything themselves — build a camp, hunt and cook food, film their day to day existence and generally just last it out longer than everyone else.
Contestants can “tap out” at any time, or be removed from the game if they fail a routine medical check-in. Apart from that routine interaction with medical staff, it’s just them out there completely on their own, where they try to outlast the rest of the survivalists for the prize money.
SBS has locked in the exclusive rights to produce the local version of the show out in the Aussie bush somewhere. Alone: Australia is set to arrive on our screens in 2023, and will be the fifth iteration in the show’s franchise following the US, Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
