The very first Bachelor SA – superhot former Sharks rugby player, entrepreneur, and international model Lee Thompson – is not the only one who will be dating up a storm on M-Net 101 in 2019 in the hopes of finding true love. In addition to The Bachelor SA, the channel has conjured up a fresh and fun-filled, highly original, new blind-dating reality show for everyone who has lost faith in impersonal online sites and apps for desperate singles, or had their hearts pierced too often by Cupid's wayward arrows. The aptly titled Finding The One will hand back the matchmaking power to real people, the ones who know you best – your friends and family.
If you’re keen on Finding The One, with a little help from your loved ones, or if you wish to nominate a lonely soul you think deserves your help, sign up here.
How does Finding The One work?
Discarding digital matchmaking, three people who want only the absolute best for a single bud or family member join forces to take on the important task of identifying three potential love interests from a dating pool. During the first crucial phase, the panel of three will sift through potential dating diamonds and dust. They will consider every single piece of information they can dig up about the potential love matches, grill them with difficult questions, dissect their social media profiles, and conduct compatibility gauges.
Once the investigation has been completed, three candidates will get the green light for a group date with the panel, allowing them to probe a little deeper, test compatibility, and size up the candidates. This is also where the power starts to shift. The panel now also has to persuade the potential love interests, and the final chosen one, that their single friend is indeed a catch in a million. Will the panel manage to identify and hone a true "connection”? If it’s a “yes”, their chosen one will go on a high-stakes blind date with their single friend. If not, the friend will arrive alone at a romantic dinner table for two.
So, the question is: Do your friends "get you" enough to find you the one, and will that one be attracted to you in return?
“There’s a great deal of jeopardy involved in this one-of-a-kind new dating show that will create loads of drama, suspense, and fun,“ says M-Net’s Head of Publicity, Lani Lombard. “We have been bringing viewers local versions of the very best big-format international reality shows, but shows like The Wedding Bashers and The Wild Ones have recently shown that our viewers also crave formats that are created by our own content creators. Finding the One is an innovative, entertaining way of showcasing South Africans who want to do what’s best and see their dear ones happy and in love. It’s a great family show with which everyone will be able to identify!"
For Finding The One, M-Net is looking for a diverse array of potential love seekers across genders and sexual preferences. You have to be South African citizen and be over the age of 18 and single – either never married or legally divorced. The three panel members can include family members, colleagues, friends, or even former lovers, who will know your romantic needs, and meet the requirements stipulated in the Terms and Conditions (published on the M-Net website).
You can either enter the show for yourself, or nominate a friend to be a part of Finding The One. The easy entry process involves completing a simple online entry form here, and submitting it along with two pictures of yourself or the person you’re nominating.
If your online application is successful, you will be contacted by the Finding The One team for a call-back and, who knows, true love could be waiting!
Finding The One is produced by Okuhle Media and will be screened on M-Net 101 in the second half of 2019.