Season 1
Take Me Out South Africa is a South African version of the UK format Take Me Out in which each week a single male does his best to impress a line-up of 30 single female participants who - using a series of lights - determine whether he gets to choose a female one of them to go out on a date with or whether he will leave the show empty-handed.
Format
One single boy has to try to impress 30 single girls. Each girl has a (white) light which she can turn off (red) if she is unimpressed by the boy. His aim is to convince as many girls as possible to keep their lights on so that he can then pick, from the girls remaining, the one that he wishes to take out on a date.
The game starts when the single boy emerges from behind a door while his chosen song is played in the background. There are three rounds during which the girls learn more about the boy and may choose to turn off their lights.
The first round is a brief introduction from the boy. The second and third rounds usually have the boy talk more about himself for 30 seconds ("Flirty for Thirty"), show off a talent (song, dance, trick, etc.), or a video is shown of the boy's friends promoting him and talking more about his background.
And now for the twist... after these rounds, if there are more than two girls left with their lights on, the single boy must walk around and turn off the lights of those remaining until he is left with two.
Once there are two, he must ask a question to both girls to help decide which one he would like to take out, after which he will turn off one more light and date the remaining girl.
If there is one girl left after the three rounds, they will go on a date. If all the girls turn off their lights – what is referred to as a "blackout" – then the boy must leave the show alone.
The couples' "dates" – which are shown in brief on the following episode – took place across the KwaZulu-Natal province's 11 districts.
Usually three men are presented during each episode. When a girl goes on a date, she leaves her podium and a new girl takes her place. Otherwise, the other girls remain at their podium and return for subsequent episodes of the series.
Take Me Out - The Gossip is a 30-minute extra show that airs just after the main show. In the gossip show, the dates are shared in detail and viewers get to see all the juicy and in-depth details about the dates that would have been briefly shown on the main show.
The series is produced by Tigere Productions in partnership with SABC1 and KZN Economic Development & Tourism.