Kym Marsh to co-present ‘romance fraud’ investigative series for BBC One

Kym Marsh and Ashley John Baptiste investigate online dating scams in a new series for BBC One.

For Love or Money will air across five episodes in a daytime slot on BBC One, and will see the Coronation Street star and BBC News reporter explore a rapidly growing and particular type of scam – the so called ‘romance frauds’ that every day sees unsuspecting online daters conned out of small fortunes. 

In each episode Kym and Ashley will look at one case in the forensic style of a crime investigation. Their aim is to expose the sophisticated techniques fraudsters use to pull at individual’s heart strings in order to get them to part with their cash and to resolve the lingering doubts and questions each case has asked them to nail.

They will find out how the scammers manage to appear so convincing, identify the real owners of the photos they have used to trick people into trusting them, unpick the evidence that has been supplied, and sometimes even make contact with the crooks themselves.

The Night Force has also been ordered for BBC One mornings. Filmed in Tyne and Wear, known as the night shift capital of the UK, the ten-part series will follow a range of nightshift workers, lifting the lid on what really happens in Britain’s factories, warehouses and on the highways whilst the rest of us sleep.

The final new series to be announced for BBC One’s outside primetime schedule is Call That Hard Work. From a zoo to the factory floor, the series will feature a diverse range of workplaces in which sets of three individuals, who are passionate and proud of what they do for a living, spend a day doing one another’s work to find out whose job is the hardest. Ten episodes have been commissioned. 

“Mornings on BBC daytime are really resonating with audiences. It’s clear viewers appreciate modern, topical formats that reflect contemporary Britain. These new titles complement the slate of recent popular factual successes such as Fraud Squad NHS, Critical Incident and Defenders UK. I believe these new formats will enhance our offering to viewers of shows that give a fresh take on relevant issues” – Carla-Maria Lawson, Acting Head of BBC Daytime

The Beeb have also announced that a number of existing daytime and early peak formats on BBC One and Two will return with more episodes including The Repair Shop, Garden Rescue and House Of Games.