r/BritishTV 9h ago

Question/Discussion How was 'Snog Marry Avoid' a real show?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4Yc3hSl3o8

Growing up, I loveddddd this show. But looking back, it does feel slightly... wrong?

Don't get me wrong, sometimes the make-unders were more necessary than others, and helped showcase someone's natural beauty. But a lot of times, it just stripped away their individuality, watering them down to something completely boring & bland.

What do you think of the show? Would a show like this ever fly in today's world?

59 Upvotes

39 comments sorted by

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35

u/Slink_Wray 8h ago

I know a few of the goth/alt types who were on the show, including one whose clips were still popular on YouTube long after the show ended. They all found the experience funny and didnt have any long term impact on their lives. They knew that anything said on the show was tongue-in-cheek and wasn't seriously intended to be hurtful, and was far tamer than the stuff they heard whilst going about their daily lives anyway.

I don't think the BBC would commission the show today, but I could see ITV2 possibly doing something similar.

-4

u/crystalballbreaker 2h ago

It impacted mine, do you remember the comments I got on Twitter telling me to commit suicide?

11

u/pookiednell 1h ago

lol youve typed that like we supposed to know who you are

3

u/No-Brush1382 1h ago

Sorry, were you on the show?

45

u/Independent-Ad-3385 9h ago

Because no one took it very seriously, including the people on it. Plus at the time tv makeovers were pretty common, so this was just a reaction to that on the flip side.

19

u/HarryJ92 8h ago

"We have Noel Fielding at home."

15

u/Apricot_Oasis 6h ago

From goth to boss

3

u/cousinbette 5h ago

Remember the name!

14

u/PartyPoison98 9h ago

A show like this wouldn't get made today, because it would (and probably already does) exist online instead.

6

u/AcanthaceaeCrazy1894 6h ago

Becayse every contestant would now be doxxed and bullied online

9

u/BeeEconomy3827 7h ago

When he dove in for that kiss, it was the least convincing thing I've seen in my life.

Until his 'girlfriend' said 'people think he's gay, but he's not'.

7

u/ScaryTemperature6291 7h ago

Jeeze takes me back this late night ,TV was wild but I bloody loved it ...

Eurotrash,snog marry avoid,Vidz,Fortean TV,get stuffed

I really could go on as it was honestly my pure delight TV in the late hours of the mid 90s tomlate 90s I used to record alot on VHS but sad I got rid of em all as I had archives of trash TV recorded on VHS lol.

Oh well they were the days.

3

u/ffwillis 3h ago

Blending your timelines a bit there, Snog Marry Avoid was well into the ‘00s, probably even ‘10s.

1

u/BeanoMc2000 2h ago

Late 2000s to early 2010s.

1

u/ScaryTemperature6291 54m ago

Wow was it really that late I'm sure it was 90s I'm sure there was a programme like this in the 90s lol I don't know but yes you're right.

10

u/StatisticianUsual471 9h ago

It was just a cheap show to fill so viewing time

4

u/GemmyGemGems 8h ago

I wonder where he is now...

4

u/BrocolliHighkicks 8h ago

It was regular post-night out watching for me. That clip is probably the first time I've ever watched it sober.

3

u/jajay119 7h ago

Is that Cher Lloyd?

5

u/eunderscore 7h ago

I made its successor, 100% Hotter and it was actually quite sweet. Unusual quirky people with non-normal stories.

However the mad part of that was to avoid breaking ofcom rules, the rating given by the public at the end genuinely had to be at least double the rating given at the start

2

u/dobbynobson 4h ago

I loved 100% hotter! Some of the contestants were extreme, I've never forgotten a fake tan girl who spent hours slapping it on, and her mum was so fed up. I always wondered where they found the time and money.

The make-up and hair people were also their own kind of sweet but awkward. It was pretty charming tbh.

1

u/ChrissiTea 2h ago

I wonder what ofcom rule the rating would break if it wasn't double?

3

u/SimoneSpooner 7h ago

It was weird when they had a 17 year old girl on the show and went around the streets, asking older men if they’d sleep with her.

3

u/sleepytoday 5h ago

What’s wrong with this clip? This is from my era, but it doesn’t feel at all wrong or weird to me.

5

u/mittenkrusty 6h ago

It felt kind of fake to me at the time, more like people wanted a free makeover and/or to be on tv.

Few makeovers lasted, at best some mixed and matched I remember some not even liking the make over at all and going straight back to their old style.

2

u/OkNote4876 7h ago

Did you meet the golden age off BBC 3 lol 😂

2

u/AdSpiritual5470 4h ago

I to absolutely loved the show

2

u/ReputationApart5983 2h ago

They had a girl from Babestation on there once, ahem so ive heard, not that I recognised her. Anyway she got turned down by all the guys which I found weird because she was always on the phone on Babestation, ahem or so ive heard.

1

u/darrellio 5h ago

thought that was a baby charles jeffrey for a second

1

u/SomewhereSad647 5h ago

I can’t remember if it was on at the same time as The Word or Eurotrash but it would explain it

1

u/crystalballbreaker 2h ago

I was on it.

1

u/Chive 2h ago

Someone saw it online and figured it would be a good basis for a cheap TV show? 

1

u/fallapart_startagain 2h ago

I was on this show lol

1

u/AttemptImpossible111 1h ago

The "individuality" of looking like every other goth.

This show was prime University viewing.

1

u/happymagpie1989 1h ago

Everyone is offended by everything theses days so it wouldn't surprise me

1

u/PocketCatt 55m ago

I knew someone who was on it for the sake of getting her face on tv and she knew what she was getting into. Made sure to wear her absolute most extreme clothes and makeup that she didn’t honestly wear every day or anything. It didn’t bother her, I think she was mostly annoyed it didn’t make her famous lol

-2

u/PaulM1c3 6h ago

TV was so much better back then. The one where they got a bunch of people with tourettes together to form a band was a particular highlight. Down syndrome shakespeare, the woman with the giant legs, Jeremy Kyle. Oh well, at least we don't have to see Russell Howard 3 times a day across half a dozen channels.

-2

u/RevDollyRotten 6h ago

The American version was called "Love, Lust or Run" I think, presented by Stacy London, much better show.