‘I hosted one of the world’s most successful dating shows – it couldn’t be made today’
The enormously popular ITV series lasted for 10 years.
The host of one of the world’s most successful dating shows has claimed that it could ‘not be made today’.
Once a mainstay on our TVs, Take Me Out was the quintessential dating ITV show to watch on a Saturday night, fronted by Paddy McGuiness.
With that instantly recognisable theme music, one brave man would lay himself bare in front of 30 women armed with terrifying red buzzers.
After being discontinued in 2020 following 11 seasons, there was a sense that its cancellation had been inevitable after a decade of trying to help singletons find love.
But now, the show’s former host has expressed his view that in today’s world, Take Me Out could never have been broadcast.
Speaking on the Table Manners podcast with singer Jessie Ware and her mother Lennie Ware, McGuiness explained how young people are still coming up to him asking him about the show.
The show was one of the most successful dating shows of all time (Picture: Colin Hutton)‘I think the way things are in the world now, in media, we live in a very strange time where if you’re saying something jokey or something not serious or whatever, it gets taken out of context, put online, and there’s a spin on everything,’ he said.
‘And I think Take Me Out, because it was so kind of pure, lovely, fun and on a Saturday night, and we had a laugh – that was of its time. I think if you did it now, I hope I’m wrong, but I think if you did it now, there’d be that many bloody things going, oh, you can’t do that. You can’t say this and take things out of context and what have you.
‘Because essentially, it’s a family Saturday night entertainment show.’
The former Top Gear host went on to say that if he were asked to do charity specials for the dating show, he’d be ‘all over it’.
Comment nowWould you want to see Take Me Out return?Comment NowThe 51-year-old stressed that Take Me Out was a ‘lovely thing to be a part of’, and he has ‘a lot of good memories’ from his tenure’.
He also added that he’s since seen some of the people who he met on the ITV programme go on other reality dating shows like Married at First Sight.
Discussing the popularity of Take Me Out, McGuinness hailed it as ‘one of the world’s most successful dating shows’.
The presenter pointed out that there have been several success stories from the matches that have been made, including six marriages and five or six kids.
Who can forget Paddy’s famous quote: ‘No likey? No lighty!’ (Picture: Steven Peskett)‘It’s a really lovely part of my life, like I’m very proud of it, and I’ve got good memories, and we had a really good team, and everyone from the warm up guy to the exec producer, it was just a real pleasure to be a part of,’ he said.
It was recently revealed that McGuiness is selling the palatial home he shares with his ex-wife Christine McGuinness for £6.5million.
The TV personality has put the seven-bedroom marital home on the market, because Christine, 36, is said to be ‘miserable’ cohabiting there with McGuinness and their three children, according to sources who spoke to MailOnline.
The pair announced their split in 2022 and reportedly settled their divorce in October while remaining friends and living together to co-parent their children Leo and Penelope, 10, and Felicity, seven – but it seems the setup is no longer sustainable.
McGuinness became the owner of the Cheshire property following the divorce and has now put the mansion on the market.
Take Me Out is available to stream on Apple TV Plus for subscribers.
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