Dating show branded a sham as Take Me Out producers 'tell girls which partners to pick'

By Jane Bunce


No lighty, no likey! Some contestants on the show, hosted by Paddy McGuiness, have alleged that producers try to tell them who to pick

'The whole thing is totally misleading and leaves a whole lot of people feeling humiliated and exploited afterwards,' one girl apparently complained.

Programme makers Talkback Thames have denied the claims. The TV show has been dogged by controversies this season, after it emerged a male contestant was an escort, and the girl he picked later revealed she used to work as a prostitute.

On the popular programme, a single man tries to impress 30 single ladies across a series of rounds. Each girl has a light which they switch off if they are not interested. If any girls have their lights on at the end, the men can pick one of them to take on a date.

One contestant reportedly complained that production staff had ordered the girls to be less picky and keep their lights on for a man who didn't interest them.

'The producers pulled some of the girls in and said, 'If you're waiting for George
Clooney or Brad Pitt, they're not coming'. They told us to keep our lights on for the next contestant, who was more than 10 years younger than me. I refused and was taken off,' she told the Daily Mirror.

Girls who had not picked any men after a few weeks may also be cut from the show.

Another girl reported that producers also deliberately dragged out scenes with the 'more eccentric male contestants' by ordering girls to leave their lights on even when none of the women were interested.

Producers also apparently ordered them to reject men down even if they liked them, 'to make better television', one girl claimed.

'I really fancied a bloke on my first week on the show, he was just my type, but the producers made it quite clear I wasn't to pick him and he left without a date.

'It's a shame because in the end he went away feeling a fool for going on the show.'

The girl ended up going on a date with another man she wasn't really interested in, billing it 'a waste of time'.

But after telling the original beau when filming finished that she had actually been interested, they ended up seeing each other outside the show.

One prospective Romeo apparently took his complaints to the programme-makers, telling them he knew that some girls had wanted to pick him but had been asked to turn him down.

Claims: Producers told some female contestants 'if you're waiting for George Clooney or Brad Pitt, they're not coming'

The makers, Talkback Thames, denied all the claims.

'We strongly refute any claims that we tell the contestants how to act or how to respond - turning a light on or off is entirely up to individual choice,' a spokesperson said.

The show has been beset by scandals over recent months.

A male contestant was later revealed to be a £50-an-hour escort - with a criminal conviction for punching a girl in a pub.

And it later emerged that the girl who won a date with him had worked as a prostitute.

Love match: Aaron picked Wen as his date, but the pair were later revealed to have had a colourful employment history

Wen-Jing Mo won at date with Aaron Withers on the hit ITV show in January and the pair were whisked off to Cyprus in the hope that romance would blossom. But the embarrassed programme had to axe footage of the pair together after their colourful work histories were revealed.

Take Me Out contestants also caused thousands of pounds of damage to a £4.5 million Grade II listed mansion in a two night sex and alcohol party organised by one of the people appearing on the show.



source:dailymail