British television tends to be much more colorful than in America. Yanks can’t even do Taskmaster, the brilliant game show in which comedians perform ridiculous assignments, for more than one season. But a new Channel 4 program has taken the old-fashioned dating game show in an even more ludicrous and wholly unexpected direction than HBO Max’s FBoy Island.
It’s called The Love Trap, and it premiered about two weeks ago in the U.K. In its native land, it was instantly infamous, as per The Sun, and with good reason. At first it sounds pretty stock: Twelve women compete for the affections of a single eligible bachelor, David Birtwistle. The twist is that half of them are only in it for the money. Birtwistle has to guess which ones are sincere and which ones are liars. And at the end of each episode, he, uh, um, erm, sends one contestant sailing through a trap door.
you must see the end of the ep of this new dating show where the guy picks which woman is already in a relationship pic.twitter.com/TVBFVGTRAz
— Bec Shaw (@Brocklesnitch) November 2, 2021
A clip from the ending of a Love Trap episode found its way onto American social media on Monday, some 12 days after the show premiered. It only shows Birtwistle choosing one woman to be jettisoned. And when she suddenly tumbles to an unknown future — hope she’s okay! — it was clear that it blew a lot of minds.
Truly could not have ever prepared myself https://t.co/NEZQxXGOBI
— Zoe Death-Knell, Beach Witch (@Blankzilla) November 2, 2021
Audibly said OH NO in reaction to this https://t.co/Hz7cbVgaWq
— Eric Pope (@MrPope) November 2, 2021
wait til the end. promise its worth it https://t.co/xSppw9P5St
— Casey Neistat (@Casey) November 2, 2021
I just had a full Joker laugh meltdown watching this https://t.co/3fX1WUG4IC
— Eric Goldman (@TheEricGoldman) November 2, 2021
UM I WAS NOT PREPARED FOR THAT AT ALL https://t.co/w0cl5jmfph
— Vita Ayala (@definitelyvita) November 2, 2021
She’s dead now. https://t.co/ScipwhwjGB
— Joel Kim Booster (@ihatejoelkim) November 2, 2021
Some compared it to a task on Squid Game, which have already inspired nasty copycats.
Dating shows really leaning in on the Squid Game hype. https://t.co/h1n028fLaT
— Matt Fuller (@MEPFuller) November 2, 2021
Presenter Joel Dommett is very proud of what he helped create, saying, “I love lying, love, and trap doors so it’s all I’ve ever wanted. It’s genuinely a huge idea and I’m excited that they have trusted me at the helm.”
— Captain Wonkish (@captainwonkish) November 2, 2021
The Love Trap is currently not playing on American television, but it is streamable on Channel 4’s site. In the meantime, it’s not the first time it seemed like Squid Game had already become real.