following the broadcast of the main programme. Most recently, it was presented by Laura Jackson and Mark Wright. Zoe Hardman previously hosted the show with Wright. A similar format, previously broadcast online, featuring backstage gossip and interviews with the contestants, was regularly made available on itv.com just hours after the broadcast of the main programme. International versions Reception Viewership Take Me Out has proven popular with the public, generally pulling over 3 million viewers per episode. Critical reception In its early days, Take Me Out was reviewed negatively by critics. Shortly after the second series began in December 2010, The Guardians Tim Dowling said that, "When you strip away its tired, utterly false premise, all that remains of Take Me Out is a lot of flashing lights and some scripted innuendo delivered in a range of regional accents." Reviewing the show after the second series concluded in March 2011, Manchester Grouch of Manchester Central wrote: "ITV should consider renaming the show 'Desperate Moron Lift Disco'" and concluded the review by comparing it to "[...]a drunken Saturday night out that ends up in a dodgy club having a quick fumble with that girl from the hairdressers you’ve been eyeing up all week." Writing for the Metro during the third series of the show in January 2012, Rachel Tarley said that Take Me Out was the "death knell for feminism disguised as entertainment". However, after the beginning of the fifth series in January 2013, Julia Raeside, also writing for The Guardian, admitted that the show had become "must-see TV" and was "a worthy successor to Blind Date": "[...]when Take Me Out noisily barged its way on to the Saturday night schedules in 2010, it was too much for me. The little I'd seen of it put me off trying a whole episode. But about a series ago, Take Me Out really started to grow on me. One night, out of sheer laziness, I didn't bother to switch over – and now they've got me. I don't like nightclubs and I cover my upper arms at all times. But the women behind those podiums, however much I fail to identify with them for wanting to be on TV with their armpits constantly on show, make it gripping viewing." Jim Brown Wrestler Jim Brown, the first contestant on the first series, was accused of continually harassing his date Caroline Mellor despite the fact that