Fresh International Formats Welcome Truckers in Love, a Whole Lot of Pianists and Stormy Daniels as a Dating Show Host: ‘I Love a Good Check, So Here I Am’

Marta Balaga
Updated ·5 min read

Stormy Daniels becomes a dating show host in Canada’s “For the Love of DILFs,” combining two groups of “internet’s favorite gay archetypes: Himbos and daddies.” Produced by Daddy TV, it premiered in January.

“I was brought here by Doctor DILF, a mysterious gay relationship expert, to help these singles find the man of their dreams. I know it sounds kind of weird but hey, the check cleared. And I love a good check, so here I am,” she said in the trailer presented at MipTV’s Fresh TV Formats, hosted by The Wit.

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According to The Wit CEO Virginia Mouseler, moderating the showcase, “The Traitors” and “FBoy Island” are the true trendsetting formats of the season.

“We have a business trend here: IP from P to P, format adaptations from platform to platform. Format travels via the same platform from country to country,” she stated, mentioning (HBO) Max, Prime Video and Paramount+.

Over the last six months, Germany, Poland, India, Finland and U.S. have emerged as top importing countries. Top exporting countries: U.S., U.K., Netherlands, France and South Korea.

Banijay Rights, Fremantle, All3Media International, Paramount Global Content, WBITVP, ITV Studios lead the way as format distributors.

Mouseler divided new Fresh Format offerings into three “happy families,” with U.K.’s “I Kissed a Boy” joining “For the Love of DILFs” in “FBoys & Friends.” Delivered by ITV Studios, it sees 10 single gay men kiss – before they even start talking.

It’s all about finding love also in NBCUniversal Formats’ “Queens Court,” where powerful women look for potential partners, and in French Canada’s “Love Is a Highway” (Banijay Rights) dedicated to lonely truckers.

“This one will be for TILFs,” deadpanned Mouseler.

“Stranded on Honeymoon Island” from Belgium (RedArrow Studios) and “I Do, But with Who” (Israel’s Keshet International) take things to the next level, with couples stranded on a deserted island following their wedding (“It’s a mix of ‘Survivor’ and ‘Married at First Sight’”) or viewers trying to figure out which contestants ended up married.

South Korea was spotlighted via three formats, CJ ENM’s “The Wooing Choir” where shy men team up to impress women with their song and dance skills, “The Time Hotel” and “The Beatbox,” the latter debuting in the Netherlands and co-developed with Fremantle.

While France’s “Divide,” from Satisfaction Group, invites couples who went through betrayal to watch their unfaithful partner through a mirrored glass door, The Players & Friends group is really all about music, as proven by Spain’s “Can You Keep the Money” (Phileas Productions), in which blindfolded audience has to guess whether it’s the actual star performing in front of them, or its impersonator. French Canada’s “Zenith” (KO Distribution) focuses on the generation gap, with artists trying to “win hearts of the viewers of all ages.

Still, a new trend has emerged in the U.K.’s “The Piano” (Fremantle), where amateur musicians play pianos in public spaces. They are convinced they are filming a documentary, but pop star Mika and Chinese pianist Lang Lang are secretly watching. In “The Pianist” (Netherlands, Banijay) celebrities learn how to play and then compete with each other.

“Piano is getting hot,” noted Mouseler.

“The Golden Egg” from Belgium (Glow Media) will see the contestants trying to find the most prized item among 100 of them, while in humorous “Breaking Point” from Germany (BBC Studios), two teams of celebrities have to predict the exact moment when something will explode, crash or burst.

Finally, in Newen Connect’s “Walk of Fame,” celebrities are carried through the jungle and can’t put their feet on the ground. As stated in the trailer, “We have seen celebrities doing everything, everywhere, over and over again. In this show, they are doing the complete opposite: Nothing. Absolutely nothing.”

As mentioned by Mouseler, adventure games shows are also popular, with “The Unknown” leading the “Traitors & Friends” pack. Distributed by All3Media International, it has a game master challenging two teams of celebrities and ordinary people. None of them know the rules of the game.

Confusion is also a big part of Belgium’s “Destination X” from Be-Entertainment, just co-commissioned why BBC and NBCU, as the participants travel across Europe in a black bus with opaque windows. When it stops, they have to estimate where they are on a map.

In “Sing to Survive” (U.S./U.K., Studio 1) the singers have to literally sing for their supper, while in “Tempting Fortune” (U.K., Cineflix), strangers are dropped in a remote wilderness, with the promise of a huge cash prize. They must reach the finish line without spending money, but then they are faced with expensive temptations.

Another All3Media International proposition, U.K.’s “Rise & Fall,” invites its participants to the tower where they will be divided into two camps: the “Rulers,” powerful and rich, and the “Grafters,” powerless and poor. Through votes, the players may rise and fall using a lift that links these separate worlds.

“It’s a metaphor of our capitalistic society,” observed Mouseler. “There are lots of moral lessons in these adventure game shows.”

In Australia’s “The Summit” from Banijay Rights, there is only one: Take the money and run, as 14 strangers are equipped with backpacks containing an equal share of $1 million. They must reach the peak of a distant mountain in 14 days to win the cash.

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