BWS gifts Fashion Hero to Ukraine’s 1+1

Body image-challenging reality format The Fashion Hero: A New Kind of Beautiful, which was produced in South Africa and aired on ETV last year, is heading to Ukraine.

Production on the third season of the Paramount+ Canada series will begin in February 2024 in Croatia, but Canadian creator and exec producer Caroline Bernier announced at the Content Budapest conference last week that her company, Beauty World Search, will give the second season to Kyiv-based broadcaster 1+1 Media for free.

Speaking in a panel session alongside 1+1 Media head of big brave events Volodymyr Zavadiuk, Bernier said the feel-good format, which seeks to challenge stereotypes around beauty and give young hopefuls a break into fashion, would offer Ukrainian audiences some light.

“This show is inspiring and I think your viewers will be inspired by it and feel good about the future and that there will be a light after the darkness,” said Bernier to the 1+1 exec on stage.

Zavadiuk thanked her in turn and said the series represented “a great opportunity and maybe it’s a glimpse of hope.”

Bernier said she is seeking further international partners for the programme, which debuted with host Brooke Hogan in 2017, selling into 160 territories, including deals with Discovery in Latin America, Nine Now in Australia, RTL2 in Hungary, Tubi TV and Amazon’s Prime Video.

The second season, titled The Fashion Hero: A New Kind of Beautiful (10×45′), was produced by BBC Studios-backed Rapid Blue in South Africa in 2022, with Backstreet Boys star AJ McLean hosting. It is distributed by UK-based Indigo Entertainment and was sold to streamer Paramount+ in Canada, where it debuted in March, as well as airing on ETV in South Africa.

A children’s version of Fashion Hero is also in the works.