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''Four in a Bed'' (also known as ''Three in a Bed'' from 2010–11 and 2015–16) is a British
reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...
that has been airing on
Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...
since 21 April 2010. The show involves B&B owners, who take turns to stay with one another and pay what they consider fair for their stay after giving feedback. The winner is the establishment named the best value for money. Each group consists of four B&Bs visiting each other and thus a winner is declared every five episodes.


Format

Each pair of B&B owners (or single owner, in some cases) visits each other's B&B. At the start of their visit, they are told how much their room costs and if there are any separate charges for breakfast. The owners then inspect the room, picking up on anything untidy or out of place. Afterwards, they take turns in some sort of entertainment activity where there is usually a mini-competition. The host then takes the guests to dinner where the guests usually get to know the backstory of how the host entered into their business in the first place. Everyone then goes to bed. Upon waking up in the morning, they then have breakfast, usually all together. Finally, they each fill in an anonymous feedback form rating and commenting on five aspects of the B&B - Hosting (eg friendliness, professionalism); Cleanliness; Facilities (eg room layout, furnishings, decoration, shared/private bathroom, room extras like snacks); Sleep quality (eg bed size and comfort, noise, temperature); and Breakfast (quality, choice, service etc), before saying if they'd stay there again. The B&B owners get to see their feedback once the guests have gone and it can leave them feeling slightly revengeful if they feel aggrieved by the comments. The guests also pay an amount of money based on their perceived value of the B&B – if a guest believes it wasn't worth the money, they underpay. If they think it was worth the money, they pay exactly. And on rare occasions, guests have paid more than the stated cost of the B&B, particularly if they felt the establishment was very good. The payment amounts are all kept secret until the last episode of the week. After all four B&Bs have been visited, the hosts get together to confront each other about the comments and the payments they have received. The winner is revealed at the end, being the B&B that has received the highest percentage of what they charged. So a B&B charging £80 and receiving payment in full from each of the others, would win over one charging £130 that received £125 from each of the others. On occasion, one of the teams may drop out midway through the competition (e.g. due to illness). In such cases where they are unable to finish the competition, they will not receive their payments from other hosts (if they hosted before leaving) and vice versa (if they visited other hosts before leaving). For hosts with two members, the absence of one will allow the other to continue in the competition as normal.


''Three In a Bed'' differences

The format for ''Three in A Bed'' slightly differs from ''Four in a Bed'' in certain aspects. First, all three B&Bs are visited in one episode. Consequently, each episode lasts for one hour, including advertisements. The order of the entertainment and dinner (occasionally lunch) meal were interchangeable. Third, for series 1 and 2, the feedback was orally given to hosts immediately at the end of each stay. In series 3, the feedback was written in a guestbook and was more free-flowing compared to ''Four In A Beds anonymous feedback forms where the rivals had to focus on several areas. Additionally, for series 1, the payments were also revealed at the end of each stay.


Transmissions


''Three in a Bed''


''Four in a Bed''


International versions

A French version of the series, called ''Bienvenue chez nous'', began airing on France's
TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is par ...
on 30 January 2012. A Dutch version, called ''Bed & Breakfast,'' began airing on
NPO 1 NPO 1 (''NPO een'', formerly Nederland 1 until 2014) is the first national television station in the Netherlands. It launched on 2 October 1951. It provides public broadcasting and currently exists next to sister channels NPO 2 and NPO 3. Severa ...
on 4 June 2015.


Controversies

In February 2013, some business owners who participated in ''Four in a Bed'' sought legal help after receiving abuse from the public. In the most extreme case, police were called in to investigate abuse that included the sending of excrement through the post and threats of physical violence. Other businesses and owners claim to have suffered abuse via the placing of alleged fake reviews on TripAdvisor, e-mails, phone calls and letters.


References


External links

* * {{UKGameshow, Three_in_a_Bed, Four in a Bed 2010s British reality television series 2020s British reality television series 2010 British television series debuts Hospitality industry in the United Kingdom Television series by All3Media