Format Focus: Prisoner of Love
- Published: 01 October 2008 17:12
- Author: Pauline Lockwood
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- Last Updated: 02 October 2008 09:15
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Ex-convicts can find romance on the outside in this dating format from the Netherlands.
The format
Prisoner of Love is a reality/dating series that sends ex-convicts on dates, offering them the chance to find love and start a new life.
In each episode, a prisoner picks three potential partners before he is due to leave prison. He then meets the women for the first time at the gates when he is released.
In this 8 x 60-minute series, the prospective couples are only allowed a few weeks to decide whether they will stay together. During that time, they go on dates, live together and even meet their partner's parents.
The ex-prisoners' convictions are only revealed at the end of the series. It is then up to the women featured on the show to decide whether they feel comfortable sharing a life with an ex-convict.
The prisoners will not be rapists or murderers but were guilty of lesser crimes and want to get themselves back on the straight and narrow.
Who's showing it?
Avro, the Dutch public broadcaster, is planning to launch the pilot episode in the spring.
Coming to the UK?
Roy Aalderink, chief creative officer at Dutch indie Palm Plus, the producer behind the series, said Endemol International is distributing the format around the world.
Could it work here?
With Cilla Black returning to the dating genre and the success of Banged Up on Five, this might steal hearts in the UK.
