The Big Deal: "It’s a world-first format that we get the privilege to write the script for..."

In an era of increasingly derivative talent shows, The Big Deal is promising to shake up the game. Described by its creative director Sean O’Riordan as “Got Talent meets Deal or No Deal,” the series is the global debut of a brand new entertainment show format – which could make a serious splash around the world, if the Irish version, landing on Virgin Media One this month, proves to be a hit.

Jointly produced by Fox Alternative Entertainment (the team behind the hugely popular The Masked Singer in the US) and Dublin-based company BiggerStage, The Big Deal is filmed in Dublin’s 3Arena – with Vogue Williams stepping into the spotlight as the show’s host, and a panel of judges that includes pop legend Boy George, comedian Deirdre O’Kane, JLS singer Aston Merrygold, Jedward, and Cork star Lyra.

“It’s a world-first format that we get the privilege to write the script for – and more than write the script, fully develop the show with Fox,” Sean O’Riordan remarks. “That is an incredible privilege as a producer, to have Fox invite us into that sort of inner circle, and to trust us with a really important show for them.

“We have fantastic production talent in this country,” he continues. “One of the best moments from a production point of view was getting emails from the senior executives at Fox saying, ‘We are astonished at the production values. You guys have delivered above and beyond’. They’re delighted with the look, the scale and the ambition. We’re all looking for the same thing with this show, which is to create a global smash hit format, every bit as special and big and noisy as The Masked Singer and all of those hit formats we have at the moment. We want The Big Deal to be the next one.”

Featuring musicians, magicians, comedians, dancers, acrobats and more, The Big Deal puts a unique spin on the traditional talent show format, by offering the performers a deal: they can either accept a cash buyout, and leave the competition with a sum of money – or they can reject the offer, and hope they’ve impressed the judges enough to progress through to the final, where they have the chance of winning the grand prize of €50,000.

“I’m so proud of the talent – because when you think of a talent show, you think of all the funny joke acts and stuff,” says Vogue Williams. “And with this, you have 24 extremely talented people from Ireland. It’s just amazing to think that such a small country has such a huge amount of talent.

“I’m kind of dreading going back to real life!” she adds. “I want to just do this every day. I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Vogue also assures us that the judges have avoided any major spats...

“Jedward have been incredible,” she enthuses. “They’re still Jedward, but they’ve become a little bit more… I was going to say ‘muted’, but not really! Lyra is amazing. I’ve never worked with her before, and I think that she has really shone as a judge. Deirdre’s just a gas bitch! She’s so funny. And Aston’s lovely – he’s the more calm, reserved one. Then George... obviously he’s fucking Boy George! It’s kind of mad, isn’t it?

“I remember walking onstage and being like ‘Oh, I hope he’s not looking at me!’” she laughs. “But he’s actually really cool, and just kind of normal.”

Lyra also agrees that Jedward bring plenty of laughs to the show.

“They’re hilarious,” she grins. “You don’t know what they’re going to come out with. What people are going to love about them is that they’re so positive. Sometimes, when I’m hungover, I’m like, ‘Hi guys, can you just send me a voice note of positivity, love and joy, because I’m hanging out of my arse! Help me!’ And they’ll literally be like, ‘Hi Lyra, have a great day, the sun is shining, you’re shining!’ They’re amazing.

“And obviously sitting next to Boy George has been iconic,” she adds. “I feel we’ve really hit it off. We’re throwing each other little cheeky smiles, like ‘God, who are you gonna vote for?’ So that’s amazing. Aston’s on the other side of me, and he obviously has all the women swooning over him everytime he comes over. I’m like, ‘Your buttons are lower than my dress, pin them up! Stop stealing the limelight!’”

As Deirdre O’Kane notes, “You never know how a panel is going to work.”

“You lump people together who don’t know each other, and you hope that it’ll work,” she resumes. “There’s no logic to it, really. But this panel are very fond of each other. Unless the others have said something different, of course. Like, ‘O’Kane’s a pain in the hole!’”

Like Boy George, Aston Merrygold also has his own Irish connections – with his mother originally hailing from Dunmurry.

“As soon as I heard the concept, I was like, ‘That’s so brilliant. I can’t believe I haven’t heard it before!’” Merrygold says of the show. “As you can see by the panel, there’s a wealth of experience on there – from different avenues as well, which is nice, so everyone can give their different feedback. It’s nice to be among very talented people behind the desk.”

Jedward, meanwhile, have joined the panel as a team.

“It’s never been done before, where you’ve had twins on a panel, judging and giving one critique as a whole,” says one half of the duo, John. “But it’s good, because we’ve been on stage for over ten years – so we know what it’s like to be up there for the first time. We know what we’re talking about. We’re going for a unique angle. We’re not just telling them stuff that people have heard all the time.”

“It’s really weird, because we’re sitting in Simon Cowell’s place on the judging panel – so sometimes I feel like we’re getting this energy of being possessed by him,” his brother Edward adds. “But no, we’re not! We’re going to remain ourselves.”

In contrast to some of those talent shows of yore, The Big Deal is also taking a different approach to interacting with the contestants.

“This show is a positive one,” Vogue insists. “We don’t want to knock people when they’re down. That’s the new kind of age that we’re living in. You don’t have to be really horrible and nasty to people to get your point across. And it’s a fun, Saturday night family show – it’s not about trying to make people feel crap about themselves. It’s trying to big people up. But then again, you can’t really say anything bad – because the talent is so good!”

• The Big Deal  is on Virgin Media One on Saturdays at 8pm.