Carolina Productions is bringing Brittany Broski to the Koger Center on Feb. 21 for “The Dating Game” and an accompanying Q&A. Broski is an online celebrity and comedian with over 6 million followers on TikTok.
The Dating Game has been a recurring university event for three years and is based roughly on the format of the 1960s TV show of the same name. The event starts at 7 p.m. and is free with a valid CarolinaCard. Those involved with the event said to get there early to grab a seat, avoid driving due to lack of parking at Koger and to make sure to bring one's CarolinaCard.
After being asked by Carolina Productions to make a video promoting the event, Broski said, "Attention Gamecocks! Attention Gamecocks, it's here, I'm here."
The Daily Gamecock sat down for a Q&A with Broski prior to the event. Readers can find it here.
Every school year, Carolina Productions hosts a comedian, "The Dating Game" and a musical show, Cockstock. This year, the group decided to combine the comedy act with "The Dating Game" to have a bigger event.
The event will be around an hour and a half with an hour-long comedic matchmaking session and a 30 minute Q&A after the show.
The "game" will consist of four rounds with two pre-decided bachelors and two bachelorettes, with Broski hosting and asking contestants questions, who will be behind a partition. Based on their answers, the bachelor or bachelorette will choose who they would like to take on the date. The winning contestant will be given a Kaminsky's gift card to go on a date.
The show was made shorter this year in order to allow for the Q&A afterward, according to Maggie Jones, one of the event coordinators for "The Dating Game."
"We wanted to kind of give Brittany like a stage to just be Brittany," said Jones, a sophomore sports and entertainment management student.
The Q&A will be directly after the game portion and will be derived from hand-picked questions from the audience. During the show, QR codes will be displayed on screens throughout the auditorium that will lead to a Google Form where students can submit their questions.
Questions will be decided behind the scenes and Broski will answer them live.
The event started from Jones' idea to bring Cody Ko, a popular YouTuber and comedian, to Columbia for a comedy show. In response, another Carolina Productions member brought up the idea to have Cody Ko host "The Dating Game." When Cody Ko wasn't available due to scheduling conflicts, Ko's agency, which also manages Broski, sent a list of other available talent. Broski was decided as the headliner from there.
For the event, Freshman Council has traditionally partnered with Carolina Productions for "The Dating Game" event. This year they worked to vet and decide the contestants for the show.
There's been a lot of excitement from students surrounding the event, according to D'Asia White, the Carolina Productions President. She said having students feel this way is what they look for as a campus organization, she said.
"We really want to make sure we're bringing someone that's students will be interested in," White said. "So we're glad that we were able to get Brittany Broski, because we had a few other people say 'no' before we got to her."
White said hosting the event at the Koger Center has been a change for the event due to size and capacity.
"I would say, we can compare this size-wise, I would say Cockstock," White said. "Just because the time investment and the venue that we're going to be holding this event, compared to some of our last events."
Candy Avila, a sophomore social work major, is the other main event coordinator on the Carolina Productions team who put "The Dating Game" together. She said she saw a lot of positive feedback tabling for the event, including people not only enthusiastic about joining but eager to be a part of the game.
"One day at tabling, we just had the board saying 'dating game with Brittany Broski'. And this freshman girl comes up and she was like, 'Oh my God, how do I go to that?'" Avila said. "She's like, 'No, how am I like in the show, I want to be a contestant.'"