REVIEW: BBC's Love in the Flesh

As we await the brand new season of Love Island on ITV, you will be pleased to know that BBC Three has created Love in the Flesh. But does the brand new reality dating show break cravings for the Love Island heat?.

The host of Love in the Flesh is Zara McDermott from Love Island season four.

The show’s premise sees individuals who have previously connected through dating sites meet in the sunny settings of Greece for the first time. The five couples consist of different online situationships, whether after a few weeks of flirtatious chit chat or five years of deep conversation.

Eight episodes of challenge relationship tests and opportunities to build friendships encourage the individuals to get to know each other better. They live together in a beautiful Greek mansion where they decide to pursue their relationship, cut ties or see what else is lurking on the horizon.

The show provides viewers with some sun between one popular reality show to the next.

Love in the Flesh unpicks the benefits and pitfalls of translating dating online to dating in person.

But it does lack the scandal and drama other reality shows do so well.

The episodes gradually lost the foucal concept of digital dating. The whole idea which inspired the show was that online dating often doesn’t become a reality in the age of ghosters.

The show is a good way to break stigmas around online dating and rebrand it in a way that creates meaningful relationships.

However, after the first five couples were established, any new contestant that entered the beach house had nothing to do with online dating and caused the show to resort back to a Love Island style. These similarities may be a good thing if you’re looking for something to fill your Love Island void but not so much if you fancy a switch up.

One thing that BBC Three does provide us with, which can’t always be seen in other reality dating shows, is the array of diversity in race, sexuality and relationship styles.

The inclusion is nice to see. It sets the record straight for once and keeps us as viewers engaged with an example of equality that should be standard within all dating shows nowadays.

Zara McDermott, as a presenter, attempts to bring personality. But due to her current reputation after her affair whilst being in a relationship with Sam Thompson on Made in Chelsea, she remains a meme throughout social media. It’s great to see that she is grasping any new opportunity to expand her repertoire, but she fades into the background when compared to Love Island presenters; Caroline Flack or Laura Whitmore.

BBC Three tried to do something slightly different and produce a show that was like Love Island but with a bit of a realistic edge that people could relate to. Unfortunately, it just felt like another churned out dating show.

Edited by Jemma Snowdon