About the show

Putting paid to the theory that beauty is only skin deep, Living’s new eight-part series explores how important aesthetic attraction is when it comes to achieving emotional intimacy, and asks the million dollar question – do looks really matter? Each week we offer six singletons, all genuinely looking for love, a totally unique way of meeting someone special – in total darkness. From the makers of Big Brother, Dating In The Dark airs exclusively on Living from Wednesday at 9pm.

We all think we know what we’re looking for in a partner: Tall, dark and handsome… But surely you wouldn’t be so shallow as to rule out the potential love of your life on something as transitory as looks? Each episode, Dating In The Dark invites three single guys and three single girls to take up residence in separate apartments within a specially designed house where they are kept completely apart, only meeting each other in a dating room which is kept in pitch darkness: the Dark Room. So dark, our singletons cannot even see their own hand in front of their face. Viewers follow the action, week by week, via state of the art infra-red cameras in the dark room, as well as fully-lit footage of the boys and girls in their separate apartments.

Following the first ‘group date’ which takes place in the dark room, our lovebirds decide who they like the sound of most, based on listening to each other’s voices.

A spot of shirt-swapping then helps guide their attraction as they get a proper whiff of each other’s pheromones. Based on theses two sensory experiences, they each decide who they want to go it alone with on a first date in the dark room. Will the pheromones kick in? Will a husky voice swing it?

The next round of dating is based on a scientific compatibility test, designed in partnership with Senior Lecturer for the Department of Psychology at Goldsmiths University of London, Dr Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic. Based on compatibility scores, matched couples are sent back to the dark room to find out whether there really is any science in chemistry. Will new ties form and new interest blossom?

Daters are then given a free choice as to who they’d like to meet again, their original choice, or their compatibility match. By now, all have begun to form an idea of what their potential love interest looks like physically, and sketch artists work alongside each dater to produce an artist impression of their date. The drawings are then handed to their subjects and tensions mount as expectations come into play.

In a dramatic moment, each of our lonely hearts is finally given the chance to see their date in the flesh for the first time. As they stand in the dark room, fifteen seconds of light is briefly placed on each person, and true reactions are revealed. But will that mere 15 seconds change everything? Is beauty really in the eye of the beholder?

In a brutal culmination, our love birds must decide whether to date or ditch their suitors. If they still want to go ahead with the date they either turn up in the library to prove their love and go on a date, or leave the house and walk away with their suitcase forever. Rejection was never so harsh!

In the final two episodes of Dating In The Dark, a biological compatibility DNA-test is used before the final round of dating. The test is developed by Swiss-based company GenePartner and predicts the level of chemistry two people will feel for each other. This test is used by online dating sites and matchmakers to complement their own expertise and support optimal partner selection.

All 'Dating In The Dark' online video content was produced and edited by HUW SLIPPER.