Discovery, Hulu snag format & tape rights to Keshet’s convent reality show

Bad Habits, Holy Orders

Disney’s US streamer Hulu has picked up exclusive rights to docureality show Bad Habits, Holy Orders, while Discovery is to produce a local version of the format for its Italian streaming platform.

The 4 x 45-minute original was produced by Crackit Productions for ViacomCBS-owned Channel 5 in the UK and sees a Catholic convent take in five raucous, selfie-obsessed party girls in a bid to show them a more spiritual path.

Hulu has taken exclusive SVOD rights in the US from distributor Keshet International, while Fremantle is producing a 4 x 45-minute Italian adaptation for Discovery, to be known as Ti Spedisco In Convento (I Send You To The Convent).

It will be available via Discovery’s streaming platform and its Real Time channel, with filming scheduled to take place before the end of this year.

Discovery has already commissioned an Italian adaptation of ITV Studios reality dating format Love Island this month, following news that the factual-focused company was streamlining its business across Europe as part of an increased focus on streaming. The firm has also recently rebranded its Dplay on demand service in the UK and Ireland as Discovery+.

KI has already licensed Bad Habits, Holy Orders to NPO in the Netherlands and SBS in Belgium – where local adaptations have already been produced and broadcast – while the UK version’s finished tape has been sold to DR in Denmark, Nelonen Media in Finland and TVNZ in New Zealand among others.

Keren Shahar, COO & president of distribution for KI, said: “Bad Habits, Holy Orders is compelling viewing in any language because the transformational journey the girls and the nuns go on together is both warm and authentic. Edgy and entertaining series like this one from Crackit Productions are proving particularly popular with factual buyers around the world right now, both as finished tape and as a format.”

Elaine Hackett, creative director at Crackit Productions, added: “Bad Habits is full of authenticity, warmth and charm and gives these young women a chance to explore what really matters in life. It was a privilege to be granted access to the Catholic Church and the nuns were amazing, funny and very knowledgeable. I’m sure audiences in all these territories will love the show and the fact that it offers a window into a very different world.”