Unwell, the media company run by Alex Cooper and Matt Kaplan, will launch “Unwell Summer Games” on YouTube on September 7, following up on the earlier “Unwell Winter Games” competition series.
As reported by Deadline, the summer edition will feature 16 competitors, drawn largely from reality dating shows, including several former “Love Island” cast members, competing head-to-head for a $250,000 cash prize. The series was filmed over four days at a ranch in Canada and brings together exes, rivals, friends and familiar faces under one roof. Adam W will host, with commentary from Cameron Gerrard and Ekin-Su Cülcüloğlu. Eric Detwiler, who has executive produced “Love Is Blind” and “Perfect Match,” joins as an executive producer alongside Cooper, Kaplan and Mina Lefevre.
The cast includes Beau Bailey, Chad Batchelder, Hallie Batchelder, Suede Brooks, Kassy Castillo, Tim Demirjian, Brandon Edelman, Pepe Garcia, Blake Gray, Zarah Kelleher, Carly Lawrence, Becca Moore, Dejon Noel-Williams, Daniela Ortiz, Jourdan Riane and Jimmy Sotos.
“Unwell Winter Games,” which premiered in April and starred cast members from “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” recorded 1.4 million views on YouTube for its first episode, with its most-viewed episode reaching 1.8 million views
“Our audience moves fluidly across platforms, and our job is to continue meeting them where they are with ideas that feel distinctly Unwell,” Kaplan, Unwell’s co-CEO, said. “The response to Winter Games reinforced the opportunity we see on YouTube, and we’re continuing to invest in original formats that bring together great talent, big personalities and the kind of entertainment our audience wants to be part of.”
The YouTube push comes as Unwell’s broader television slate has produced mixed results. Hulu canceled the company’s “Love Overboard” after one season, even as Unwell continues to build out original programming across platforms, including “Let’s Marry Harry” on Netflix and the docuseries “Call Her Alex.” The company took its first outside capital in August, a $500 million pre-money valuation from WTSL, and Cooper has said Unwell is “scaling on all fronts” with plans to grow through acquisitions and investments. The funding round arrived as Cooper parted ways with United Talent Agency after more than six years and weighed a move to CAA, with the agency question separate from and unaffecting Unwell’s production slate.
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