How The Honesty Box separates itself from reality TV overload – Lucinda Light and Vicky Pattison break it down

Hosted by Vicky Pattison and Lucinda Light, the radical new dating series features a group of singletons as they head into Truetopia in a bid to find true love.

The catch? Don't lie.

As the daters explore connections with one another, they are all regularly tested by the Honesty Box – an AI detection system that registers a person's body movement, heart rate, eye movements and so on. It's called EyeDetect and it can measure even the smallest of changes in a person's eye behaviour, whether it be their blink rate, gaze fixation or pupil dilation, to detect lies.

And if the Truetopians are honest about their feelings, they have a good chance of leaving with someone on their arm. If they lie? It'll reduce the £100,000 trust fund.

But haven't we heard of this before? Netflix's Too Hot to Handle centres around contestants who are forbidden from engaging in any romantic interactions, with the prize fund being reduced if they break the rules. Also similar in premise is the streamer's other reality show, Love Never Lies, in which six couples are subjected to a lie detector test where their lies cost money.

According to the show's host Vicky Pattison, there is plenty that sets this show apart, from the impressive technology to the singletons that dare step foot into Truetopia.

"Don't get me wrong, I know the reality TV space is super saturated, but that's because there's a huge appetite for it," Vicky exclusively told RadioTimes.com.

"We are consuming this at an alarming rate and we're not slowing down. I knew there was space for this show. What I think sets it apart and makes it different and is going to make people want to watch it is this incredible AI technology element but also as well, it's got real heart."

She largely put the hopeful success of the series down to the casting team, with the trick being to casting older contestant. This is certainly beneficial to dating shows. Take Love Is Blind for example. The show often features singles in their late 20s to late 30s, and has seen an impressive success rate in not just ratings, but also relationships.

Vicky continued: "I can't take any of the credit for this at all, but the amazing people that made it, the casting team, they went for a slightly older cast and I think that makes all the difference.

"I know in my 20s I was having a good time in Magaluf, doing things that people do in Magaluf. Was I looking for love? Probably not. Hand on my heart, I was just looking for a good time.

"People in their 30s are looking for love [and] honest connections. We're sick of being lied to. We're sick of feeling like we don't know where we stand, and because the cast was slightly older, you could really feel what they were feeling.

"They are done with dating apps, done with being lied to, they want to find someone who they can just be with and have a really nice time, and I think that's what makes The Honesty Box. The people involved in are really special.

"It's spicy, don't get wrong, but there's also a whole lot of heart."

While Vicky hosts the show, breakout Married at First Sight Australia star Lucinda Light has a different role as Sincerity Coach, as she guides the daters through the experience.

"I'm right there in the heart of Truetopia," she explained in the press notes for the series. "Facilitating powerful exercises that draw out honesty, spark vulnerability, and help our cast lean into each other. The connection accelerates so quickly – it’s incredible to watch. And the best part? They're all so up for it. It's magic."

Lucinda echoed Vicky's thoughts and told RadioTimes.com: "[They are] just such courageous contributors that are up for being in the Honesty Box, being called out, who are all absolutely sick to death with liars and wanting this incredible experiment to cut through.

"There [are] a lot of points of difference in the show and it has a hell of a lot of heart and it's a very non-judgemental space. It's a very safe space for people to let go in the land of Truetopia and being vulnerable and being honest."

This could be the most refreshing reality dating show yet, as the show ensures to not "make anyone look stupid" – because anyone can lie! And as Vicky correctly puts it, that doesn't immediately make someone a bad person.

She told RadioTimes.com: "What's fundamentally different about our show is we're not trying to make anyone look stupid. Human beings are multi-faceted, not everyone is great all the time.

"Some people will tell lies, but it might've been a mistake. Also, telling a lie doesn't make you a bad person. So I think we're not there to bastardise anyone, which I think is hugely different to certainly the TV I used to make."

The Honesty Box starts on Monday 28th April at 9pm on E4.

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