Netflix has green-lighted reality dating series Sexy Beasts for two seasons on the streaming network, with comedian Rob Delaney (Catastrophe) attached as the narrator. The idea behind the series is for singles to find love solely based on personality, with their dates transformed into different animals and mythical creatures through the use of Hollywood movie prosthetics. The show is based on Lion TV’s original British series for digital channel BBC Three in 2014, which ran for one season.
“Making Sexy Beasts for Netflix has been an incredibly exciting process. With an international cast featuring some truly brilliant characters, a host of prosthetics which look extraordinary in 4K and with Rob Delaney narrating, the viewers are in for a real treat,” says Simon Welton, creator and executive producer for Lion TV. “I hope the show puts a smile on peoples’ faces as they play along to discover who’ll fall in love with who, and what our cast all really look like.”
In the show, a new single will get to know three potential love matches, all of whom are in full prosthetic makeup from the neck up. The single will see the real face of who they choose after they’ve made their final decision.
FX artist Kristyan Mallet designed 48 different makeup designs for the two seasons. Mallet’s a prominent artist know for her work on Mission Impossible and The Theory of Everything. Her career started in 2004, where she worked as a “creature effects trainee” on Harry Potter: Prisoner of Azkaban.
Sexy Beasts is executive produced by Lion TV’s director of entertainment Welton (Horrible Histories, Big Brother). Sarah Clarke (Body Fixers) joins as the series producer with Sam Campbell (The Circle) directing. Sexy Beasts comes at a time when costume-led series such as Fox’s The Masked Singer are in high demand. Think of Sexy Beats a mashup of The Masked Singer and another popular blind-dating reality series on Netflix, Love Is Blind.
The first season will be comprised of six episodes and air on Netflix globally on July 21. The second season will follow later this year.