Take Me Out (British game show)

The objective of the show was for a single man to obtain a date with one of thirty single women. The women stood on a stage underneath thirty white lights, each with a button in front of them. A single man was then brought down on stage via the 'Love Lift' and tried to persuade the women to agree to be his date in a series of rounds, playing a prerecorded video discussing his background, displaying a skill (such as dancing or playing a musical instrument), or playing another video in which the man's friends or family reveal more about his virtues and philosophy.

At any point during the rounds, the women could press the button in front of them to turn off their light if they did not want a date with the man. If this occurs, their area of the stage turned red. If, at the end of three rounds, there were still lights left on, the bachelor would turn off all but two of the remaining lights himself. He would then have a chance to ask one question to the last two women, before choosing which of the women he wanted to go on the date with by turning off one more light. If the man was left with two lights at the end of round 3, he would just ask his question to the two remaining women and if there was only one light left at the end of round 3, he will go on the date with that girl without asking her his question. There were usually four men brought on in the course of a single episode, though on some occasions segments were cut and only three men were shown.

If all the women turned off their lights before the end of the third round - this was referred to as a "blackout" - then the man would have to leave the show without going on a date, accompanied by the Céline Dion version of the hit Eric Carmen song "All by Myself". In the first series, the successful couples conducted their date at FERNANDO'S! in Manchester, which is actually Club Bijou on Chapel Street, the outcome of which is shown as part of the following week's show. For the second series, the date took place abroad on the Isle of FERNANDO'S!, a fictional location based in Puerto de la Cruz, Tenerife.^[4] Previously the date took place in Cyprus. Successful couples left the programme upstairs on the opposite side of the studio to the 'Love Lift', and a song, usually from the latin pop genre, was played.^[5]

Comedic value was mostly provided by McGuinness's array of catchphrases such as "Let the (object) see the (object)", "No likey, no lighty!", "If you're turned off, turn off", "If he's not Mr Right, turn off your light", "Get out there, turn one girl off and take one girl out!", "Come and get some Paddy love!", "The isle of...FERNANDO'S!".

In this round the man comes down the love lift. He meets the girls and then says his name and where he is from. Paddy repeats but afterwards with one of catchphrases. Then the girls can turn off their light. From series 7 onwards, they have to write down a 'love at first light' from the girls who had left their lights on.

This includes a pre-recorded video presented by the man. It sometimes includes interviews with his friends and family. It describes his personality and what they do. At any point the girls can turn off their light.

In this round the man shows a skill in the studio. Alternately their friend or family can say a secret. At any point the girl can turn off their light.

In this round the man turns off the lights of the remaining girls until just two are left lit. Alternatively, if there is only one or two girls left from round 3 then round 4 is skipped entirely.

In this round the man asks the girls who are remaining a question. The man then turns off the light of one girl. Paddy questions the chosen girl if they would rather know the man's 'love at first light' or not. Then they meet, go up the big stairs opposite the love lift and have a backstage interview. Alternatively, if only one girl remains lit from round 3 then the man gets to choose between her and a "mysterious girl", who remains unseen until he makes his choice.

Take Me Out: The Gossip was a behind-the-scenes sister show that began airing weekly on ITV2 from series 3-5 and 7–9, following the broadcast of the main programme. Most recently, it was presented by Laura Jackson and Mark Wright.^[7] Zoe Hardman previously hosted the show with Wright.

A similar format, previously broadcast online, featuring backstage gossip and interviews with the contestants, was regularly made available on itv.com just hours after the broadcast of the main programme.

In its early days, Take Me Out was reviewed negatively by critics. Shortly after the second series began in December 2010, The Guardian's Tim Dowling said that, "When you strip away its tired, utterly false premise, all that remains of Take Me Out is a lot of flashing lights and some scripted innuendo delivered in a range of regional accents."^[8] Reviewing the show after the second series concluded in March 2011, Manchester Grouch of Manchester Central wrote: "ITV should consider renaming the show 'Desperate Moron Lift Disco'" and concluded the review by comparing it to "[...]a drunken Saturday night out that ends up in a dodgy club having a quick fumble with that girl from the hairdressers you've been eyeing up all week."^[9] Writing for the Metro during the third series of the show in January 2012, Rachel Tarley said that Take Me Out was the "death knell for feminism disguised as entertainment".^[10]

However, after the beginning of the fifth series in January 2013, Julia Raeside, also writing for The Guardian, admitted that the show had become "must-see TV" and was "a worthy successor to Blind Date": "[...]when Take Me Out noisily barged its way on to the Saturday night schedules in 2010, it was too much for me. The little I'd seen of it put me off trying a whole episode. But about a series ago, Take Me Out really started to grow on me. One night, out of sheer laziness, I didn't bother to switch over – and now they've got me. I don't like nightclubs and I cover my upper arms at all times. But the women behind those podiums, however much I fail to identify with them for wanting to be on TV with their armpits constantly on show, make it gripping viewing."^[11]

Wrestler Jim Brown, the first contestant on the first series, was accused of continually harassing his date Caroline Mellor despite the fact that their date did not work out. Caroline claimed to receive numerous phone calls and texts from him for over four months. Jim was later also charged with possession of child pornography on his computer. Prior to this, Jim was caught pleasuring himself in a Wishaw Sports Centre cubicle, which alerted the police to investigate him.^[12] On 21 March 2014, Jim was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for flouting a ban on going near children.^[13]

The studio segment of contestant Chelsea Stewart scoring a date with model Damion Merry caused controversy when broadcast. During the third and final round, it became apparent that Damion used to date reality television series personality Jodie Marsh, and he later told one of the girls who had turned her light off, Lucy Harrold, that he would have picked her, offending all the girls who still had their lights on.^[14] It later transpired that not only was Damion not single at the time the programme was filmed, he was also about to marry his girlfriend Sarah Ann Gras; the segment was broadcast a month after the wedding took place.^[15] On This Morning, Marsh later denied having ever dated Damion, saying: "I tell you what, this guy - I went on one date with him, one date...We had pictures in a nightclub, he sold the pictures to the TV show or whoever and gave 'em away and now, it's being told that we had a whole full blown relationship and that I was his ex-girlfriend."^[16]

The studio segment of contestant Jade scoring a date with banker Rory Alexander was axed from the programme, after it transpired that Rory was serving a suspended sentence for common assault. Jade did not return to the show.^[17]

Many viewers were extremely offended when one of the girls, who had left her light on for contestant Param Singh, made a joke about contestant Param's turban, saying she was interested in him because she could use his turban to store her phone. Despite the fact Param himself took it light-heartedly, many Sikhs found this remark to be extremely offensive. Param later went on to describe the backlash that he received from sections of the Sikh community.^[18][19][20]

In 2012, several of the contestants accused the show's producers of telling them whom to choose on each episode. Female contestants complained that they were forced to choose men who they didn't find attractive, while some of the show's male contestants went home without a date after the girls were told not to choose them.

"The whole thing is totally misleading and leaves a whole lot of people feeling humiliated and exploited afterwards," one girl who had appeared on the show told the media.

"The producers pulled some of the girls in and said, 'If you're waiting for George Clooney or Brad Pitt, they're not coming',"

"They told us to keep our lights on for the next contestant, who was more than 10 years younger than me. I refused and was taken off."

Other female contestants reported that producers had told them to reject certain men even if they liked them because it made better television.^[21][22][23]

Take Me Out is cited by the creators of the website tubecrush.net as being an influence for their website, as they saw it as an example of how the sexual objectification of men had become part of mainstream culture in the UK.^[24]

Take Me Out – The Album is a 60-song compilation album, which was released 18 November 2013.^[25]

A board game was released on 3 August 2011 by Rocket Games which features host Paddy McGuinness on the cover of the box. It contains: light and buzzer number unit, 100 single man cards, 50 the power is in your hand cards, 1 single girl pad, 12 isle of FERNANDO'S vouchers, coloured dice and rules.^[26]

• Take Me Out at IMDb
• Take Me Out at UKGameshows.com