Play4 preps Belgian version of Danish weight-loss format Big Love

Belgian-Flemish commercial network Play4 is gearing up to launch a local version of Danish factual reality format Big Love, in which couples seek to lose weight together.

Birgitte Koefoed

Belgian prodco De Mensen has produced Da’s Dikke Liefde, which will begin airing on the SBS-owned channel on May 23 following a deal with Quebec-based distributor Media Ranch.

The format, which airs in Denmark on DR and was created by STV Productions, has already been remade in French-speaking Canada for Quebecor’s SVoD platform Vrai.

In the show, which has also been optioned in the Netherlands by Monday Media, three couples who have all put on a lot of weight since they first fell for each other agree to try to lose weight.

Birgitte Koefoed, chief creative officer at STV Productions, said: “Big Love is a story about struggling couples losing excess weight and gaining lost intimacy, and that story is not specific to one country but applies to audiences everywhere. It is a consistent hit for both linear and on-demand viewing in Denmark and has appealed to a hard-to-get male audience. Hopefully, it will be equally successful in Belgium and many more territories.”