BuzzFeed is putting a social media spin on the reality dating format popularized by The Bachelor.
On Thursday, the publisher is debuting interactive dating show RelationShipped on Facebook Watch. Like The Bachelor, the series will follow one man on his quest for love, but there’s a catch. Over the course of the 18-episode season, viewers will have a say in how that love story plays out.
The Nov. 9 premiere will introduce the audience to five bachelors. Viewers will then have until 7 a.m. ET the following day to vote for the man they want to see continue on his journey to find love. Future episodes will ask the audience to help plan dates and nominate potential contestants.
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BuzzFeed is taking a page out of the Big Brother handbook and shooting RelationShipped in near real-time to offer audiences the most up-to-the-minute episodes as possible. Head of development Matthew Henick tells The Hollywood Reporter that BuzzFeed is also planning to offer live look-ins at the RelationShipped house, an L.A. mansion where the contestants will live during filming, and Q&As with eliminated contestants.
“We wanted to build a format that television audiences are familiar with, a dating format, but from the ground up for digital,” Henick says “Shooting and releasing it in real time allows the audience to affect the show and get involved in ways they couldn’t before.”
RelationShipped joins a number of Facebook-financed projects on Watch, the video tab that the social network began rolling out at the end of the summer. Other projects include Mike Rowe-hosted unscripted series Returning the Favor and scripted dramedy Strangers, both of which have been renewed for second seasons.
New 15-minute episodes of RelationShipped will debut every Monday and Thursday on Watch.
