NATPE Hot Picks: Temptation Island

Producer: Banijay Studios North America
Distributor: Banijay Rights
Broadcaster: USA Network
Concept: Couples face the ultimate test when they are separated into two different ‘temptation’ islands

Banijay is set to reboot this dating classic for 2019, five years after it last broadcast in the US. This time the 11 x 60-minute format promises tweaks for the digital age and “new layers of psychological depth”.

In case you missed it the first time, the rules of the format dictate that four couples in committed relationships spend 12 days and nights on separate islands, where they are tempted with singles looking for love and wild parties.

Every night the host invites one group to a bonfire where they’ll be shown exactly what their partners have been up to. After the twelfth night the couples are reunited. But, will they go home together – or go their separate ways?

“Banijay Group has had continuing success with the Temptation Island format in multiple territories for many years, but the timing felt particularly right to bring the show back in the US,” says Andreas Lemos, Banijay’s US VP of sales and acquisitions. “The central premise – testing couples who are hitting a rut in their relationship – is universal.”

More so than ever, the format is looking to find genuine couples at a crossroads and has looked to cast relatable contenders on the show, according to Lemos.

So far, Temptation Island has been adapted in 18 territories since its first launch in 2001. In 2019 there will be new commissions in the US, Germany and the Netherlands.

The US finished tape will launch at NATPE, shortly after its premiere on the USA Network.

“We will also be heavily promoting the Temptation Island format for Latin American broadcasters to acquire at NATPE,” says Lemos. “There has been a lot of interest in the show with Canadian media group Bell already on board to air the show across E!, SVOD platform Crave, and Canada’s largest commercial network, CTV.”