The new dating reality show Rivals in Romance on M-Net Series (DStv 110) Fridays at 19:30 is a visual valentine of television fun that's so well-done quality wise that it actually belongs on the main M-Net channel as top-notch local TV fare.
In Rivals in Romance South African girls are clawing for the hands (or is it . . . charm bracelets!) of two would-be suitors in a show that's a brilliant billet-doux to the reality television dating genre: escapism fun sprinkled with high drama, romantic entanglements that will obviously escalate, with sheer delightfulness in watching contestants getting dumped while they're striving to find/fight for Mister Right.
Rivals in Romance brims with crisp editing, beautiful lighting, a richly textured and opulent penthouse backdrop and two sassy and just the right amount of sexy co-presenters (Jonaid Carrera and Phuti Khomo). Stirred in are two semi-hapless bachelors, somewhat cringeworthy beauties, dramatic yet subtle music (listen to what you hear during the charm bracelet ceremony) and clever narrative techniques filled with the promised of unexpected twists which all combine for a delightfully surprising new TV show that instantly feels tacky-terrific. Rivals in Romance is that second bowl of dessert at the late end of a wedding when you eat for the sheer enjoyment of it and with wild abandon and indulge yourself simply because it tastes so good.
The producers of Rivals in Romance clearly gave their utmost of attention to even the smallest of details during the entire production process. It's not in the minute details but in the overall scope, structure, visual look and jaw-dropping story that the loving quality of this carefulyl crafted production shows. Whether viewers will tune in on Fridays knowing Rivals in Romance is on or whether they happen across it by chance, like a perfumed love letter that you want to keep smelling, you'll find it hard to tear yourself away if you allow yourself to watch just 5 minutes.
This fight for love is fantastic in the augmented reality Rivals in Romance has created. Not only do the girls compete, but the guys compete against each other for the girls. If boobs already had to be blurred in the first episode and a pool party was already the second challenge, can you imagine the tittilation to follow? Rivals in Romance does a perfect balancing act of being slighty bawdy without going over the edge, walking a tight-rope between loving the TV viewer on the one hand and mercilessly teasing like a cabaret act on the other. The end result is that Rivals in Romance is a fragrant TV love letter that by its finale in week 13 will most probably still smell as nice as the very first time you opened it.
