Been SOOO disappointed this series, had been waiting for the new series for seemed like ages, having loved last years. I definitely think, though, that the format change has been blamed for the poor series, and it's certainly not helped, but the main problem for me has been in the casting.
There were (and still are) plenty of "comically-bad" couples, but there is enough x-factor type reality shows for that kind of tv, and this show has lost all its credibility by having so many couples who are genuinely NOT contenders.
Last series, we tuned in wondering who might have a bad service, who might mess up and be in trouble, whereas this series, its more a case of "how is he going to choose any over the others" because they are all so poor.
As I said, I preferred the old format, but imo it has only been exposed by the competitors being so poor, and had we had decent couples who we actually enjoyed watching or cared about we would have been more inclined to accept change.
Feel really sorry for raymond as this series is in danger of doing damage to his credibility.
