Love, Sun, Camera: New TV Dating Show Seeks Mallorca Expats

Love, Sun, Camera: New TV Dating Show Seeks Mallorca Expats

Evening sun, the sound of the sea and the scent of freshly baked ensaimada — for many on the island this is everyday life. For a new German TV dating show, this very everyday feeling could now become the stage. A production company has started a casting that specifically seeks people who already live in Mallorca and are genuinely looking for a relationship.

Unlike the usual formats with week-long villas and staged dates, this project, according to the announcement, is about the small encounters of everyday life: conversations on the Passeig, shopping at the Santa Catalina market or an espresso at your favorite bakery. Not a temporarily arranged holiday idyll, but stories that arise between the commute to work, a chat with the neighbor and the sunset at the beach.

What applicants should know

Participation requires some basic information: how long have you lived abroad, why hasn't finding a partner worked so far and how do you imagine your ideal partner? In addition, an up-to-date photo and a link to a public social media profile are requested. The production company emphasizes that genuine residents are wanted — not guests who are only visiting for a few days.

Practical tip: Prepare a short, concise description (1–2 paragraphs). Feel free to mention specific Mallorcan details: your favorite beach, the bakery where you ring the bell every morning, or why the Saturday market is indispensable to you. Such small pictures make people come alive in the casting.

What the island can gain

At first glance this sounds like flickering entertainment — and it certainly will be. But formats that show real everyday layers can give something back: visibility for local businesses, Emigrants on the Island: Two Couples Start Anew – How Mallorca Benefits and, not least, a more nuanced image of Mallorca beyond the postcard. If filming is carried out sensitively, the island can benefit: small cafés, weekly markets and beaches receive attention that could also encourage more sustainable tourism.

At the Santa Catalina market the vendors' chatter rings out in the morning, somewhere the cutlery of a small bistro clatters, and the seagulls cry above Portixol — such scenes are closer to reality than staged villa evenings. That makes the concept likeable and potentially useful, if the producers are truly interested in honest stories.

What to watch out for

Of course, a project like this also has its downsides. Cameras in everyday life change dynamics: friends behave differently, pets can get nervous, and not everyone wants intimate stories to end up on television. Similar issues have been examined in When Old Feuds Become Mallorca Fodder: What 'The Reckoning' Does to the Island. Applicants should ask exactly how much will be recorded, what releases are required and what post-production is planned. A clear agreement on compensation, rights to the footage and the possibility to withdraw scenes later is advisable.

Anyone who is not afraid to step in front of the camera should still protect their privacy: conversations about health, family problems or sensitive topics do not necessarily belong in a living-room format. And a realistic horizon of expectations helps: TV romance is often a beginning, not always a guarantee for life together.

How to apply

The casting runs online; the application form can be found on the production company's website tv-gesichter.de › Section “Love Abroad – Expats”. In addition to the information mentioned, it is recommended to include a short video (30–60 seconds) in which you say where you live in Mallorca and why the island is so important to you. Authenticity beats perfection — someone with croissant crumbs on their jacket in the morning who laughs while telling their story appears more down-to-earth than perfectly styled selfies.

And if you're wondering whether it's really worth it: a neighbor from Cala Mayor recently joked that she already has coffee, friends and a view — she just lacks the better half. Maybe some of them will this time find, exactly between paseo and beach, the person with whom they will share future sunsets.