Dubai expatriates on Palm Jumeirah needed for reality TV show

Published:  21 Jul at 6 PM
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A London-based production company is seeking UK expats with homes or businesses on Dubai’s iconic Palm Jumeirah complex to star in a new reality TV show.

Arrow Media, the production company responsible for the popular Ultimate Airport Dubai show, is working with the UK’s commercial TV network ITV on what is expected to be a no-holds-barred expose of Brits living in untrammelled luxury in an exotic setting. Qualifications for applicants seem to be rather basic, as well as possibly reflecting the tone of the new show, with being ‘loud’ and happy to have their darkest secrets revealed to millions the major requirements.

Expat forums in Dubai have been inundated with adverts for Britons living, working or playing on the complex, with the description of possible candidates reading less sensationally than its interpretation by the media. ‘Big personalities and an interesting story to tell’ is the official version, and has attracted a good number of comments on local social media including those urging their friends to sign up.

Others are urging caution, as the wrong images depicted could well result in deportation from the conservative emirate. One casting agent familiar with UAE laws and culture told The National the show's producers should be very careful what they portray, with alcohol, nudity, sexual content and suchlike red flags to the Middle Eastern bull.

Meanwhile, common sense seems to be reigning in the Bahraini parliament as it’s rejected a call to ban expat professionals over 50 years of age. The poorly-thought out age cap was put forward as a way to boost local employment, but opposition from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Labor Market Regulatory Authority caused its rejection by the majority.

According to both organisations, the emirate is gaining and will continue to gain from foreign expertise, experience and knowledge. One MP stated the older a professional gets, the more experience he can bring to his job and the more Bahrain benefits from that experience, especially if the knowledge is passed on to Bahraini workers. Medicine and law, he added, are two major sectors in which this applies, whilst reassuring his fellow politicians he is in full favour of jobs for Bahrani citizens and believes in their competence.
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