Meat Loaf Teases New Series ‘I’d Do Anything for Love…But I Won’t Do That’: ‘It’s a Relationship Show and a Rock Concert’

Will Thorne
·3 min read

A long time ago, Meat Loaf would do anything to get his idea for a relationship game show off the ground, but now it’s finally happening.

The iconic rock star is set to executive produce a show called “I’d Do Anything for Love…But I Won’t Do That,” which is based on his 1993 hit ballad of the same name and is currently being shopped around to networks in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia.

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During the ITV Studios Formats Festival, Meat Loaf appeared briefly via video to pitch the wacky format as part relationship show, part rock concert, and to reveal jokingly that the concept behind it even pre-dates the song.

“27 and a half years ago, I had an idea for a game show called ‘I Would Do Anything for Love…But I Won’t Do That.’ Now this game show was a relationship competition with a rock concert, what could be better? Nobody wanted it,” Meat Loaf shared in a matter-of-fact tone while the titular song was blasting in the background. “It’s O.K, my partner Jim (Steinman) said, ‘You know what, let’s make it a song,’ and I said, ‘Cool, let’s do it.’ Thus was born ‘I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That)’ the song and it became number one in 32 countries. Now, move forward 27 and a half years later, I came up again with a relationship show and a rock concert…it will rock your world, buy it!”

The intriguing series hails from “Nailed It!” production outfit Nobody’s Hero, and the company’s founders Christopher Potts and Jonty Nash were on hand to provide more details, as well as share that they have received “lots of offers” for the format from networks in the U.S.

Each episode of the show, Potts and Nash explained, will see two couples competing in three physical games to test how well they work together, with the most in-tune couple walking away with a grand prize. The twist appears to be that while they’re competing, a smattering of classic power ballads will be performed live in the studio by a mixture of music legends, comedians and new artists.

Later on in the Formats Fest, Maarten Meijs, ITV Studios president of Global Entertainment, shared some updates on the wildly popular “Love Island” franchise, saying that the U.K. version is still very much on course to return this summer, and that season 3 of “Love Island USA” is returning to Hawaii.

He also teased a new German format from the “Love Island” folks called “Love Is King.” The show will see “hot millennials transform themselves into princes and princesses” and be locked up in a “dream castle” to compete for the “favor of the king.” The contestants will have six ball nights to find their true match.

On the U.K. front, Meijs said that a second season of “The Cabins” is in the works, and showed teasers for new formats “Bling” and “The Pet Show.”

The latter is a weekly series which “celebrates pets of all shapes and sizes,” inspired by the pet obsession which has seemingly swept the globe during quarantine. It will be presented by Dermot O’Leary and “Gavin & Stacey” star Joanna Page.

“I can best describe it as ‘Top Gear’ for pets,” Meijs concluded.

AJ Odudu served as general emcee for the un-scripted fest, and “The Voice U.K.” host teased that the ITV Studios format she’s most excited for is “The Voice Rap,” which already had a strong launch earlier this year in Turkey, according to Meijs.

Several other notable formats presented at the showcase included the Nippon TV-produced “Stacking It” (in which contestants get to keep prizes after stacking as high as they can), physical competition series “The Void,” and Top Trumps-esque game show “Unbeatable,” hosted by comedian Jason Manford.

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