New Celebrity Dating Series Sounds Worse than The Bachelor

Cat Deeley will host The Choice on FOX.

FOX has not announced which celebrities will take part in its new show, The Choice, a celebrity dating game, but they're seeking publicity for it which makes me skeptical.  I hope it won't be another Celebrity Apprentice or Dancing with the Stars featuring only a couple of bona fide celebrities and a bunch of other people you couldn't pick out of a line-up.

The Choice will be hosted by Cat Deeley of So You Think You Can Dance.  It debuts Thursday, June 7 at 9 pm and promises to feature "the world's most eligible celebrities competing to find true love among a group of sexy singles they can't see."  Yes, that's right, it's a dating show much like the old Dating Game during which someone asked a bunch of questions of a group of people without being able to see them.

If you think the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchise has failed to produce couples in lasting relationships, you can only imagine how unsuccessful this show will be at achieving that goal.


“We wanted to put a new spin on the dating game show that gives celebrities THE CHOICE of a lifetime and the chance to prove you really shouldn’t judge a book by its cover,” said Mike Darnell, President of Alternative Entertainment at FOX.

Fox says episodes, filmed in front of a live audience, will begin with four of the world’s most eligible bachelors sitting in rotating chairs, unable to see the singles looking for dates with "celebs. In this initial “Blind Round,” each celebrity will only be able to hear the voice of potential suitors – as they share information about their lives, passions, turn-ons and turn-offs. When the bachelor likes what he hears, he pulls his “love handle,” spinning his chair around to bring him face-to-face for the first time with his potential mate. (If more than one celebrity pulls the handle, they must battle it out for her affection until the woman gets to choose.)

Once each bachelor has his three candidates (the Fox news release said "hotties," but I just couldn't use that word), the teams enter the “Speed Choice” round, where each woman has only seconds to convince a man to sweep take her to the final round.

Then, Deeley will pose a challenge question to each of the team’s final two. The celebrities must then make THE CHOICE between each of their two remaining eligible women, whisking one away on a dream date and leaving the other behind.

Women will get a turn to choose as well, The network claims" some of the world's most famous bachelorettes will also be blinded by love in an episode that features the ladies sitting in the hot seats. These coveted women will make not only their chairs, but their suitors’ heads spin when the men realize this is a date of a lifetime." OMG.

THE CHOICE will be produced by A. Smith & Co. Productions (HELL’S KITCHEN and KITCHEN NIGHTMARES). Arthur Smith, Kent Weed and Scott St. John (“Deal or No Deal”) are executive producers.