Factual

NENT Studios UK today announces that SIC in Portugal has acquired the rights to produce a localised version of its long-running, successful relationship format Don’t Tell the Bride. 

The new Portuguese series is heading swiftly into pre-production to capitalise on the easing of lockdown restrictions in the territory, but viewers will not have to wait long to get their fix of wedding fever. SIC has also just acquired series 14 (15 x 60) of the original UK programme, produced by Renegade for E4, as well as 27 episodes from the Irish version, produced by Coco Television for RTÉ. Previously, SIC licensed series 6-13 of the UK version.

Following earlier format deals in countries such as China, Australia, France, South Africa and the US, this new deal will mark NENT Studios UK’s nineteenth local production for the title.

In each episode of Don’t Tell the Bride a couple is given a set sum of money to pay for their wedding day however, every single element of the big day – from the venue and wedding dress down to flowers and favours - has to be completed in three weeks…and only by the groom. The bride and groom have no contact during the three weeks and only see each other again when she walks down the aisle. The format is never short on drama and entertainment: some grooms get it all surprisingly right – but most get it spectacularly wrong and bridal tears and tantrums are common.

Lucy Roberts, senior sales manager at NENT Studios UK, was responsible for licensing the format to SIC. She comments: “This latest deal for ‘Don’t Tell the Bride’ further endorses its status as an evergreen and universal format that readily transcends borders and cultures to entertain audiences. It has been a pleasure to work with SIC in getting this deal up and running so quickly and to also ensure it has ready-made episodes to broadcast while the Portuguese version is in production.”

Theo Wolf, acquisitions manager from SIC adds: “We are thrilled to move into production on our own version of ‘Don’t Tell the Bride’ and cannot wait to share a series featuring local people and customs, plus unique Portuguese backdrops, with our viewers. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, we will be producing with new protocols and the wedding events themselves will naturally be managed a little differently. However, we will rise to the new production challenges and ensure our post COVID-19 Portuguese series has all the emotion, engagement and entertainment that our viewers have come to expect from watching the UK version over the years.”

In related news, series 14 of  Don’t Tell the Bride has also recently been sold to TV2 in Norway.

Don’t Tell the Bride is one of the world’s most popular wedding programmes: the original UK version has been sold to more than 200 individual territories and it has been remade to date in 18 countries. Starting life on BBC3 in the UK in 2007 the show moved to BBC1 for six episodes and then onto Sky1, before arriving at E4 in 2017.