Don't Tell The Bride to move to BBC1 in wake of BBC3 shake-up

BBC bosses had considered scrapping the show altogether

Emma and Steve in the Don't Tell the Bride Christmas special (BBC)

The BBC is hoping to attract an older generation of bridezillas and their hapless grooms for a reboot of the hit show Don't Tell The Bride on its flagship channel.

The Bafta-nominated BBC Three series has been commissioned for a six-part series on BBC One, featuring brides aged between 30 and 55.

Produced by Renegade Pictures, the show sees the husband-to-be plan a wedding from the dress to the dinner and everything in between on a fixed budget - all while being cut off from his soon-to-be wife, who is kept in the dark throughout.

Charlotte Moore, controller of BBC One said: “Don't Tell The Bride will bring a new flavour to BBC One and expand the range of factual entertainment programmes in the schedule, it will retain all the elements fans of the show love but re-imagined for a broad audience.”

Harry Lansdown, director of programmes at Renegade Pictures, said: “The team is thrilled to be bringing the real life, romantic comedy of Don't Tell The Bride to a BBC One audience. It's fascinating to see what marriage means to people of varying ages in modern Britain, and not just to the couple themselves, but to their wider family and children, whose lives are all impacted by the big day.”

It comes as plans to move BBC Three to an online-only channel are being considered.

While outlining the plans last week, BBC TV chief Danny Cohen did not go into detail about which programmes would survive the move but the emphasis on comedy and documentary would seem to signal the end for entertainment shows including Don't Tell The Bride and Snow, Sex And Suspicious Parents.

The plans for the channel, subject to approval by the BBC Trust, would see it close and move completely online next autumn.

PA

Read more: BBC3 to cut Don't Tell the Bride when channel moves online