When Meng Fei was told the show he hosts was popular in Australia, he thought it was a lie. The Chinese dating program If You Are the One has an audience of more than 30 million at home, but is watched mostly by expats on Mandarin-language TV stations in other countries. The exception is Australia, where it is subtitled in English for SBS-TV and seen by about 220,000 weekly, including an enthusiastic group on Twitter, who discuss episodes as they air, tagging their tweets with the "ifyouaretheone" hashtag so anyone can join in. In China, where the show has 34 million followers on Weibo (their version of Facebook), a similar phenomenon occurs.
"I know this show has been very popular around the world among Chinese audiences, but it is a big surprise to me that Australian locals like it," says Meng. "My concern was that when things are translated into English, like when many Chinese novels are translated into English, some things are lost."
Luckily, the show seems to have universal appeal. The key is the format, which originated in Australia in a show called Take Me Out. It aired here in 2008 and flopped, but has since been produced in more than 20 countries around the world.
Twenty-four women return to If You Are the One night after night to size up male candidates, who appear individually. The men, through pre-recorded videos and on-stage banter, try to convince the women of their worthiness. Sometimes, it's dislike at first sight: "Your belt is struggling to hold in your stomach," is a typical earthy response from the women. At others, a woman is willing, but the man would rather leave alone.
If it sounds gladiatorial, it is. Part of the show's appeal lies in its brutal honesty, but there is more to it. The casting is done carefully, and viewers build attachments to the women's distinct personalities; many are quirky and witty.
This week, SBS will air an Australian special with Australian Mandarin speakers looking for love. It's not the first time: If You Are the One shot its first Australian specials in 2011, and has filmed specials in Britain, France, the US and Canada.
But the show is capable of sowing the seeds of romance from its faraway base in Nanjing, too. Alyssia Tennant, 19, from Adelaide, and Jeremy Stevens, 23, from Canberra, met while live-tweeting If You Are the One during SBS's Valentine's Day marathon last year, and fell in love. Twitter messages graduated to Facebook friendship, which blossomed into romance. The couple now live together in Canberra.
Keeping up with the subtitles on screen and the rapid pace of Twitter comments can be challenging, but both say live-tweeting is a big part of the appeal.
"It's a place where people from entirely different backgrounds all join together to chat about a TV show, and connect on different levels," says Tennant. "It feels really cool to be part of a community online, and to interact with other people in Australia."
When a favoured female contestant finds a partner, it's often a bittersweet moment for regular viewers, who will miss her presence on the show. Stevens' favourite is Wu Yu, notorious for pulling no punches, while Tennant nominates Wu Zhengzeng, known on Twitter as "golden hand" for her habit of wearing one gold glove.
"I just admire her openness about her interests, because sometimes people can be a bit hesitant to really talk about what they love," says Tennant.
Wu Zhengzeng's interests include the Chinese tale of the Monkey King and Harry Potter, both of which she often referenced on the show. She was born in Fuzhou, China, but earned degrees while studying at universities in Victoria and Tasmania. She enjoyed living in Melbourne, but felt lonely. She thought a television dating show would be "the most effective way" to find a suitor "because a lot of people see you through this platform. And then you can pick the best admirer."
She compares it to applying for a job, "like a person sending their résumé to a head hunting company".
Wu was on the show for six months, before leaving with a Canadian-born Chinese. She says she often felt pressure in the heat of recording. "Time is too short. Sometimes you may make a wrong judgment, you may say no to your Mr Right, however, if he is your true love, he will find his own way to stay in your life."
It didn't work out with the Canadian candidate, and the couple agreed to donate the money from the trip they won to a children's charity. But Wu is now married to a previous candidate, Dong Yan, who had gone on the show to woo her after following her Weibo; the "Mr Right" she had missed the first time. They have a child and now live in Melbourne, where they are working on a TV show for her Chinese blog.
Meng Fei says six to seven months is the longest time a female contestant will spend on the show. Does he ever form attachments to the girls when they are there for so long, as the audience does?
"Depends. Some girls when they leave the show, I feel very sad, and others, I can't wait," he jokes.
Despite his one-liners, Meng is a thoughtful and considerate host. He is conscious of the fact that real feelings are at play.
"My job is to look after these people. They are not actors or actresses. Many of them are on television for the first time so I am mindful of that. Their personalities are different, some people deal with it better than others. My job is to give everyone an equal and fair opportunity to show the best side of themselves."
WHAT If You Are the One Australian specials
WHEN SBS2, February 14 & 21
