Arrange Me a Marriage

Arrange Me a Marriage is a British reality TV series, for which the pilot episode aired on BBC2 in March 2007;^[1] while the first of five series episodes aired on 22 November 2007.^[2]

Format

British singletons in their mid-30s are found partners using the principles of Asian arranged marriage. Aneela Rahman, a Glasgow based British-Asian marriage arranger, described as the "British Asian Cilla Black,"^[3] gets their family and friends to network together and find the perfect partner in a four-week period.

Rahman believes that the divorce rate in Britain would decline if more couples were matched up through class, education, family background, life goals and earnings:

"For many non Asians meeting someone is quite random, in a bar or club - but you wouldn’t buy a house or car drunk so why would you expect to find a life partner like that? Then people wake up 20 years later and wonder why they haven't found someone to settle down with."^[3]

Each episode tracks the friends and family of five contestants/singletons, who have four weeks to network on their behalf and find the perfect partner. After Rahman has vetted and met the potential matches, the contestant/singleton is given a choice of two potential matches,^[4] from which with the guidance of their family and a brief biography - but no photograph - they choose one match. Each episode culminates in an Asian-style introduction party, where the contestant/singleton meets their chosen match together with both sets of family and friends. The episodes end with updates on how the matches are or are not getting on.^[5]

Background on Rahman

Aneela Rahman, born in Scotland to immigrant Pakistani parents,^[6] met her husband Maqsood when she was 25 through an arranged marriage - they married 18 months later. The couple have been married for 15 years, have two children, and run five Subway sandwich shops in Scotland from their Glasgow base. Her sister is a freelance television producer, who knew the basic idea for the show had been talked about by the BBC for some years. Rahman has been arranging marriages within her local community for some years, and her sister suggested to the BBC that they interview Rahman for background information. After shooting a pilot episode which aired in March 2007,^[1] she was offered the opportunity to present the series.^[7]

References

External links

• DailyMail article on series and singletons