Holly Willoughby's Meet the Parents gets second series

4 January 2017

Holly Willoughby's dating show 'Meet the Parents' has been commissioned for a second series.

Holly Willoughby

The 35-year-old TV presenter - best known for co-hosting daytime magazine programme 'This Morning' with Phillip Schofield - made her debut as a dating show host back in October when she became the face of ITV's new match-making programme.

The show proved to be popular with viewers and now bosses have ordered another run just a month after the final episode of the first run aired and they are on the hunt for new contestants looking for love.

A source told The Sun Online: "The first series of 'Meet the Parents' proved to be a huge hit. It drew in fantastic viewing figures of over two million each week despite going head to head with 'Strictly Come Dancing'. There has therefore been little debate among bosses as to whether it should be recommissioned - and they have decided that they want a second series to air in 2017 with Holly at the helm. Dating shows are all the rage right now and Holly completely clicked with the programme's young audience and contestants."

Producers are scouring for singletons who are happy to have their parents spill the beans on their romance and cringe-worthy childhood tales.

The show format is centred on the parents who are quizzed by the picker about their son or daughter whilst the guys and girls hoping to be chosen see and hear everything. The potential dates have no control over what their parents are revealing. However, if mum and dad go too far, they can make one urgent phone call to speak to them.

The hook of the show is seeing whether these parental confessions help or hinder their kid's chances of finding love as once the picker has finished grilling the parents, they make their dating decision.

And similar to the 80s, 90s and 00s popular show 'Blind Date', the pickers get to see who they turned down before they come face-to-face with their date.

The source added: "ITV were surprised during the first series by just how many members of the public were willing to come on a dating show alongside members of their family. They're hoping they'll have just as big an intake in the second series and have already put out ads online asking for willing individuals to star on the show."

Online adverts have revealed they are on the quest to find more "fun, outgoing people and their families to take part in a new series".