People Are Losing Their Minds Over A ‘Squid Game’-Esque Clip From A New British Dating Show

British television tends to be much more colorful than in America. Yanks can’t even do Taskmaster, the brilliant game show in which comedians perform ridiculous assignments, for more than one season. But a new Channel 4 program has taken the old-fashioned dating game show in an even more ludicrous and wholly unexpected direction than HBO Max’s FBoy Island.

It’s called The Love Trap, and it premiered about two weeks ago in the U.K. In its native land, it was instantly infamous, as per The Sun, and with good reason. At first it sounds pretty stock: Twelve women compete for the affections of a single eligible bachelor, David Birtwistle. The twist is that half of them are only in it for the money. Birtwistle has to guess which ones are sincere and which ones are liars. And at the end of each episode, he, uh, um, erm, sends one contestant sailing through a trap door.

https://twitter.com/Brocklesnitch/status/1455351345993502720

A clip from the ending of a Love Trap episode found its way onto American social media on Monday, some 12 days after the show premiered. It only shows Birtwistle choosing one woman to be jettisoned. And when she suddenly tumbles to an unknown future — hope she’s okay! — it was clear that it blew a lot of minds.

https://twitter.com/Blankzilla/status/1455364779338518529

Some compared it to a task on Squid Game, which have already inspired nasty copycats.

Presenter Joel Dommett is very proud of what he helped create, saying, “I love lying, love, and trap doors so it’s all I’ve ever wanted. It’s genuinely a huge idea and I’m excited that they have trusted me at the helm.”

The Love Trap is currently not playing on American television, but it is streamable on Channel 4’s site. In the meantime, it’s not the first time it seemed like Squid Game had already become real.