The Hot Ones – Formats

Welcome to Deadline’s The Hot Ones, our annual selection of the most scorching titles headed to MIPCOM this year. Our editorial team, with years of experience and knowledge about what sells globally, has carefully researched and selected the projects we expect to drive the chatter on the Croisette and far beyond.

MIPCOM is still the main place for the world’s TV makers to discover what their counterparts are doing, and what the biggest new shows are likely to be. Here’s our selection of fresh formats, from Gordon Ramsay’s latest effort to ITV’s Celebrity Sabotage.

Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service

Fox Entertainment Global

Length: 14 x 43’
Producer: Studio Ramsay Global
Network: Fox

Traitors-esque mystery formats are all the rage at present and the trend has extended to Gordon Ramsay.

For the latest spin-off of his ever-popular range of food formats, which launched on Fox in May, the celebrity chef has tapped into his little-known love of the military and counterintelligence to go undercover in what is arguably his favorite battleground… failing restaurants.

Fox’s Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service follows the well-trodden path of the Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares formula but throws in a bit of espionage for good measure. Ramsay ventures into each restaurant under the cover of night and with the help of a secret source, gathers unfiltered evidence of the major issues facing each establishment. By the time Ramsay reveals his identity, it will be too late for staff to cover up their culinary crimes, and they can then take drastic measures to improve.

Fox Entertainment Global (FEG) President Prentiss Fraser tells us the idea first emerged from Ramsay’s desire to “take a proven ‘rescue’ format and give it a fresh, investigative twist.”

“It was developed as the next ‘turn of the wheel’ for Gordon Ramsay and these shows,” Fraser explains.

Fraser says the show “keeps the DNA” of hit Ramsay franchises such as Kitchen Nightmares and 24 Hours to Hell and Back, but with Secret Service he is adding an “entirely new investigative layer” that has proved so popular for The Traitors and various other guessing game challengers.

“It was important to develop the idea that the audience plays along with this new format,” she explains. “The reveal moment was a big part of the new format development — it’s a built-in twist that raises stakes and delivers drama. Both Gordon Ramsay and Studio Ramsay’s trademark wit and intensity are balanced with genuine heart, surprise, humor and tension from the undercover investigation.”

The “insider twist” keeps things “freshly marketable” when FEG pitches to buyers, Fraser says, adding that the show has so far sold in more than 60 markets, while its spring launch on Fox saw it become the No. 1 new cooking series of the year on American broadcast and cable.

Going forward, Fraser hopes Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service could be a precursor to similar spin-offs.

“The ‘secret investigation’ framework can be applied to other sectors beyond restaurants,” she adds. “There’s clear potential for formats in hospitality, hotels, even retail.”

Celebrity Sabotage

ITV Studios

Length: 6 x 60’
Producer: Lifted Entertainment
Network: ITV

 The game-within-a-game format feels buzzy in today’s market and ITV Studios has landed upon one with a bit of scale, fun and star appeal.

Lifted Entertainment, the creator of Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway and I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!, are therefore hoping Celebrity Sabotage will make a splash in Cannes.

The show brings together contestants who believe they are competing in a reality game show to win a prize. But hidden away in a secret HQ, a group of celebrity saboteurs are watching their every move, carrying out missions designed to disrupt their success. The more sabotage missions completed undetected, the greater the prize — but if a celebrity saboteur is caught, the contestant faces a difficult decision.

Diego Rincon, creative director at Lifted, says the team spotted an opportunity to work up a big new hit of this ilk after ITV’s stalwart Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway was rested.

“We are always on the lookout for the next big Saturday night entertainment format,” says Rincon. “We know there are lots of strategic reality formats across the board, but what people love on a Saturday night is to laugh, have a good time and watch something that is heartwarming.”

To that end, Celebrity Sabotage has landed celebrities including Masked Singer host Joel Dommett, former Love Island finalist Olivia Attwood and comedian Judi Love, who have natural chemistry and “don’t hold back” in throwing themselves into the game, says Rincon.

Having local celebrities to tap into hands buyers the opportunity to easily adapt the format for their own territories, says Mike Beale, managing director of ITV Studios Creative Network, who says format sales will be prioritized over finished tape.

“We can add more celebs and other mechanics in each territory,” he adds. “Celeb content doesn’t necessarily travel globally as finished tape so we would hope to see localized versions of these spoof reality shows. Channels can have a lot of fun with this. We’re certainly having fun with marketing.”

And in a troubled market, Beale reckons there is a still plenty of desire for formats like Celebrity Sabotage. “No commissioning editor is sitting at a desk around the world not wanting to find the next big hit show,” he adds.

The Inheritance

All3Media

Length: 12 x 60’
Producer: Studio Lambert
Network: Channel 4

For its latest Traitors-esque caper, Studio Lambert headed to a different country estate, set up an even deeper mystery and enlisted not one but two top on-screen talents to share hosting duties.

The Inheritance launched a few weeks back on Channel 4 and All3Media International is now hoping to sniff out some deals, especially with U.S. buyers, at MIPCOM.

It’s hard not to be attracted to a gameshow in which superstar Liz Hurley plays a deceased country manor owner. In The Inheritance, 12 strangers arrive at a grand English country estate, lured by the opportunity to inherit a chunk of a fortune. The fortune belonged to that glamorous benefactor, The Deceased, who has left video messages for the players from beyond the grave. To release money from The Inheritance, players must work as a team to complete a series of challenges. To win the game they must persuade all others that only they should be entrusted with the money. 

Rob Rinder plays the Claudia Winkleman/Alan Cumming presenter role with aplomb and Studio Lambert used all its nous gained on working on shows like The Traitors when it came to casting.

“We looked for people with interesting relationships with fairness and money, perhaps through a divorce, a business deal or even an inheritance itself,” says Studio Lambert chief creative officer Tim Harcourt. “But we were also looking for team players and grafters and those who had interesting takes on what they felt fairness looked like in team environments.”

In a crowded market, Harcourt says it is a given that Hurley and Rinder will make the show attractive to buyers, but he says there is more to it than that. “The talent of course helps it to stand out, but we hope the fact that is touches upon the explosive notion of what is fair will make it compelling once people come to it,” he adds.

Conversations with U.S. buyers have begun with a “positive reception,” Harcourt says, and he reckons The Inheritance would work well as a companion piece for Network: s that already show The Traitors or The Apprentice, “as well as buyers who missed out on The Traitors and want something with the same human drama.”

Along with The Inheritance, All3Media International is also selling Trespasses, the Gillian Anderson-starring adaptation of Louise Kennedy’s love story set against the backdrop of The Troubles in Ireland.

Reality Kings On Safari

Warner Bros. International TV Production

Length: 60-minute format
Producer: WBITVP Netherlands
Network: Videoland

Reality Kings on Safari leans on a similar formula to earlier format Reality Queens of the Jungle, in which female reality stars turn their back on creature comforts to take part in an off-grid competition. Local versions of that show have been made as far afield as Germany, India and Spain, so Warner Bros. International TV Production is hopeful its MIPCOM launch of Reality Kings will land well at the market.

“Reality Kings on Safari taps into the same drama, intensity and competition that makes Reality Queens of the Jungle such a success,” says André Renaud, Global VP format & finished sales at WBITVP. “It’s the natural follow-up as it brings some of reality TV’s most recognizable male personalities, stripping away their home comforts to compete and win their own cash prize.”

The series is on trend, Renaud adds: “What stands out is how it fuses two of today’s most bankable drivers: The high-octane drama of influencer reality with the spectacle of survival. As the men fight to win luxuries for their team, and to stay in the game, they also battle their own egos to survive.” 

Reality Kings on Safari was originally made by WBITVP Netherlands for local streamer Videoland. In that version, the reality TV stars were taken on a wild adventure in Kenya, but it was not the Instagram-friendly trip to which they are accustomed. Instead, it was life in the rugged wilderness with all devices left behind. The format requires them to be divided into two camps, and the overall mission is to find their way back to civilization, with challenges along the way. The trials are a mix of physical games and tactical challenges that variously test strength, teamwork and strategic thinking. Cast can also win luxuries for their teams that make life more comfortable.

“Broadcasters will love the format because the structure is clean, the conflicts are organic, and it’s easily cast from a ready-made pool of talent willing to put everything on the line to win,” says Renaud. “Audiences will love the unfiltered entertainment as egos clash, alliances shift and personalities crack under pressure. It’s the perfect choice for anyone wanting to scratch their reality itch and build on talent they have already made household names.”

Match My Ex

Seven.One Studios International

Length: 24 x 30’
Producer: Madame Zheng
Network: Joyn

Match My Ex puts the latest spin on the dating format, and this time it’s the past that’s dictating the future.

The German format, naturally set in a luxury villa, sees famous former lovers playing matchmaker for their ex-flames. As they flirt with new singles and face unresolved feelings, their previous lover chooses their dates and oversees emotionally charged ‘Match Check’ challenges, which test the dynamics of the new pairings. Every fourth episode culminates in ‘X-Night’, where singles without matches face eviction.

“You’re always attached to the person you want to cut the strings of, but they’re playing the puppet master,” says Jelka Below, exec producer of streamer Joyn’s original version. “There are still emotions like jealousy that exist. You want to move on, but someone holds you back.”

While you can expect the usual dating format fireworks, raucous parties and poolside flings, Below says more therapeutic moments provide a different level of “realness” with their former spouse, adding: “We give them the chance to work on their past with that person, which makes for super interesting TV.”

Joyn’s Vice President of Content Creation, Show & Reality Elisabeth Sofeso says the program has been “one of the most successful reality shows of the year,” and worked particularly well for young women. She adds Match My Ex has “a very special concept compared to other formats,” with the dynamics creating “explosive drama and good reality TV right from the start.”

Madame Zheng, the Munich-based company behind the show, is already developing a second season for Joyn. Below says sticking to the key format beats, focusing on relationships and emotions, and strong casting choices are crucial, though there’s no requirement to replicate the famous faces of the DACH region version.

“It’s very important to have these structured elements to the format, otherwise it feels like a big mess of people who are coming out of relationships,” she adds. “The main driver is emotions, so go for real relationships. Put the effort in your casting, that drives the show and doesn’t need lots of producing.”

The original Match My Ex saw strong social media engagement in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “Big reality stars were talking about the show,” recalls Below.

Production values can always be scaled up or down, meaning Match My Ex is one of the more flexible formats on offer in Cannes. Joyn’s Married at First Sight and Stranded on Honeymoon Island ProSiebenSat.1 Media stablemate Seven.One Studios International will be distributing the series in Cannes.