Take Me Out Has Been Axed After 11 Years On Television

ITV has made the difficult decision to axe the hilarious dating show Take Me Out after 11 years on our screens.

A spokesperson for the channel put the decision down to a drop in ratings.

They told The Sun: "We've decided to say goodbye to Take Me Out. As with many shows, ratings have slid a bit in recent years. But it will go down as a big success - it's had more weddings than Blind Date.

"We'd like to thank [host] Paddy [McGuinness], the production team at Thames as well as all the contributors for their hard work in making the show such unmissable television."

ITV

The show focuses on a bloke trying to land a date with one lucky lady out of a lineup of 30, all of whom stand in front of a podium with a light on the front. As he tells them about himself, they can either keep their light on, signalling they're interested, or turn it off, meaning... well, you can figure it out. To explain the rules, McGuinness deployed the catchphrase 'no lighty, no likey'.

There have been some incredible contestants over the years, creating endless memes and brilliant television. Host Paddy McGuinness revealed to us who he thought was the number one person looking for love.

"I rehearse with the lads in the day," he told LADbible. "So I know what their party piece is going to be in the studio.

"I was talking to them all, running through the rounds, getting all the information, and then I came to the first guy and said, 'Right, all the girls are going to be stood there, what are you going to do to impress them?'

ITV

"He said: 'What I'm going to do is make sausages'.

"And I just remember thinking, 'This is going to bode well.' BUT he got a date, which shows there is something out there for everyone. We had a bloke on, dressed as a butcher, making sausages, on Saturday night telly, AND he got a date!

"So, whenever any of my mates can't get girlfriends, I always remind them - if a man making sausages can get a girlfriend, as a party piece, anyone can. If he can, you can."

Sadly we won't be getting anymore of that television gold anymore, unless someone at ITV a few years down the line wants to reboot it, possibly even with someone else in Paddy's place.

Never say never, eh?

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie