Described as “Love Island” meets “Married at First Sight”, “Written in the Stars” is a reality dating show but with astrology.
Writer Daisy Jones recounts her experience visiting the set of “Written in the Stars” behind the scenes.
She talked about an enormous villa with a good-looking man and woman standing outside. It appeared that the couple looked like they were about to be sacrificed to the gods or beamed up into the sky.
The reality is that the couple is being initiated into the villa on the set of new TV show, “Written in the Stars.”
For about 29.5 days, six couples share a home and they are matched by a team of astrologers based on their birth chart compatibility (sun, moon, rising, etc). The contestants can leave if they are not feeling it and are replaced. There are no eliminations, winners or losers.
Everyone is looking for love, whether they are cynical or semi-believers. Jones spoke about meeting Rosie Bray, Lucy Golding and David Mortimer, the ones behind the show.
Mortimer has produced shows like “Dragon’s Den” and “Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends”. He was there for the inception of “my money don’t jiggle jiggle / it folds”. “Written in the Stars” was born after Bray and Golding convinced Mortimer to get on board. They share a liking for astrology.
“We could see it was a massive trend, and thought: we’d like to harness it in some way,” says Bray. “We thought dating was the obvious match, because people were starting to use it on their dating apps. The biggest thing that people go to astrologers for is for love advice. And they match people based on their birth charts.” ‘So why aren’t we doing that on TV?’ they thought.
It is strange that there was never an astrology show before this in the UK. UK TV companies famously do not like taking risks, and astrology still hadn’t reached the screens in our parent’s living rooms – until now, that is.
“I think it’s because the top layers are never into it,” says astrologer Francesca Oddie. She’s one of three in-house experts who helped match the contestants, and continues to give them astrological dating advice throughout the show.
“Maybe it’s an age thing?” she adds. “They’re old-fashioned? But astrology’s been trending since around 2017, which is five years.”
Astrologer Michelle Knight-Waite – charismatic and adorned in a long billowing dress and silver jewellery – expresses a similar sentiment. “I think that nobody had the… ovaries to do it before now,” she says. “No one had the courage to do it. And why would they? My experience in commissioning is that a lot of people are too cautious to take risks, even if something is really popular. The patriarchy is not wanting to commission shows that are… you know.”
Presenter Clara Amfo isn’t sure the show would have even had a chance of success six or seven years ago. “I guess we’re at a point in culture where [astrology] is more accepted,” she says. “Whenever there’s a meme made by a straight man about something women enjoy, then it’s cut through to [mainstream] culture.”
“Written in the Stars” premieres on discovery+ on the 27th of November, 2022.
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