‘Flirty Dancing’ producers tease what to expect from the new dating show
On “Flirty Dancing,” couples get their groove on before they get it on.
The American version of the UK series pairs up singles not through a game show or a challenge, but by having them dance. The catch? They don’t speak. They must decide if they want to continue seeing a prospective partner based solely on the vibes they feel while channeling their inner Patrick Swayze.
“This is how a lot of our parents and grandparents got together — they’d hit the dance floor with a connection,” executive producer Jilly Pearce tells The Post.
Showrunner Mike Yurchuk adds that dancing is “romantic” and “a true way of seeing if there is chemistry.”
The show is hosted by actress and dancer Jenna Dewan, who met her now-ex-husband, sexy “Magic Mike” star Channing Tatum, on the set of the 2006 dancing rom-com “Step Up.” In that flick, she played a driven ballerina who ultimately falls for Tatum’s bad-boy breakdancer after they’re paired together for a school performance.
“Chemistry is everything when it comes to dating and [when] it comes to dance,” Dewan says in a preview for the show. “[Dancing] really sets the tone for you to feel if you inherently have chemistry or you don’t.”
Each episode (airing Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on Fox) finds a couple meeting for the first time as they perform a dance — with contestants learning their moves separately before doing them together. One “picker” dances with two different partners before choosing the one they want to see again for a second date. Cue the smoldering eye contact and romantic dips.
Pearce says that part of the show’s appeal is that unlike “The Bachelor” and “Love Island,” the contestants aren’t all chiseled and tanned Instagram-model types.
“They’re characters you wouldn’t necessarily find on other dating shows,” she says. Contestants run the gamut from ages 21 to 67 — and include everyone from single moms to ad-sales reps.
The UK version, which is now in its second season on Channel 4, already has fans abroad: A same-sex couple’s darling dance in a Victorian greenhouse went viral in November.
Crowd favorites Garry, a 33-year-old property manager, and Ryan, a 25-year-old wigs assistant, danced to Sigala and Paloma Faith’s “Lullaby,” and Twitter users dubbed them “one of the most wholesome things I’ve ever seen.” The pairing was particularly poignant after Ryan revealed he had no luck on dating apps (“There was one week where I had four dates planned and I got stood up on every one,” he says in the episode).
The American version won’t have same-sex couples — at least for the initial six episodes of the show.
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