Netflix UK Addresses Duty Of Care Concerns Around Live Reality Show ‘Netflix, Will You Marry Me?’

Netflix UK’s new unscripted chief has addressed duty of care concerns around her debut commission. Netflix, Will You Marry Me? will be a 12-episode ‘live reality’ show in which the audience will take charge of one man’s quest to find a wife. They will vote on which dates he goes on, who stays in the running and who exits the process. At the culmination, the man will make a proposal to the winning potential partner. Given the potential psychological impact on participants and mental health issues on other major British reality TV shows, there have been questions around how Netflix will handle the duty of care elements. Syeda Irtizaali, Director of Unscripted at Netflix UK, was quizzed on the issue today at the Edinburgh Television Festival and responded duty of care had been baked into the production. Watch on Deadline “It’s not a compliance issue, it’s actually part of the creative,” she said. “We all want innovation, and we’re only going to get real emotion in any program if we are able to say people feel safe. We really thought hard about the duty of care at the center of our editorial – the center of what we’re doing. Banijay UK production houses Initial and Workerbee are making the show. Veteran execs Katy Manley (Big Brother) and Tamsin Dodgson from Initial, and Michelle Chappell and Rick Murray from Workerbee are exec producing the show, which Netflix is billing as an “epic game of Cupid.” The show is one of several new unscripted titles for Netflix UK, with another live production, Beat Luke Littler, among them. That show sees world champion darts player Luke Littler take on 20 members of the public in single games of 501 to win £501,000 ($680,000). The show is also from Workerbee and will launch on October 30. Outside will be the latest production from The Sidemen, spinning off from their Netflix show Inside. The format will see a group of content creators thrown into a forest to battle for a £1M. Sidemen Productions is producing.